Manchester United could join PSG under Qatar. Credit: Getty Images/Franck Fife
UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin admitted that his organization is «pretending» that at least one club in UEFA competition does not share the same ownership with another, and hinted that paves the way for a possible £5bn takeover of Manchester United by Qataris. p>
The purchase of United in Qatar will reach the third round on Friday, when the Glazer family will review the final offers. Qatar Islamic Bank chairman Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani is the favorite over billionaire British Ineos founder Sir Jim Ratcliffe, although there is no way to be sure the Glazers are committed to a full sale.
Čeferin's consent will be critical to Qatar's successful bid to buy United with Paris Saint-Germain, already owned by a subsidiary of the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), a sovereign wealth fund. Sheikh Jassim was adamant that it was a private claim, despite his family's historical ties to QIA, of which Qatar Sports Investments, which owns PSG, is a direct subsidiary.
Speaking on the American football podcast Men In Blazers, Čeferin was asked about multi-club ownership — the ownership of more than one club competing in UEFA competitions by the same organization. This is expressly prohibited by UEFA rules.
Čeferin said: “We are just discussing this for now. There are clubs — or at least one — where we still pretend it's not the same owner [as the other], but it's the same owner, and I won't tell you which one. You can guess.
“One or two of these potential applicants for another club told me: “Look, we have about 250 companies. We can do this [acquisition] of another company, but we don't want to do that. Because this is us. We can get around the rules.» They don't want to do it. So we need to discuss some things.”
UEFA declined to comment on Ceferin's words. He attended the Parc des Princes with the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, when PSG played Bayern Munich in the Champions League earlier this year.
The issue of Qatari entities owning several clubs competing in the Champions League has become a serious issue as it has become clear that Sheikh Jassim is in a bid to buy United. Ratcliffe also owns a Ligue 1 club in Nice and another club in Switzerland.
In 2017, energy drink conglomerate Red Bull came to an agreement with UEFA to reduce its involvement with its Austrian club Red Bull Salzburg as a compromise to allow its German club RB Leipzig to also compete in the Champions League. Both clubs have played in the same tournament for the last five years.
Čeferin said the issue of co-ownership goes much deeper than just its potential impact on UEFA competitions. “Honestly, this is my dilemma,” he told the Men In Blazers podcast. “I'm not sure what will happen, but, for example, you can own two, three, four, five clubs. This is not a problem for UEFA. The problem is that you can't play in the same tournament.»
«You would think that if two clubs owned by [the same person] competing in the same tournament could agree on who would win, and who will lose — although it is not easy to do so [correct matches]. But if I can't play in the same competition as my other club, then I can lose in my national league because it doesn't matter if I'm a champion [or not]. It's quite a complicated topic, but I don't have a solution yet.»
As well as Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim, a number of American investment funds, including Elliott Management, The Carlyle Group, Ares Management and Sixth Street Partners have registered interest to the acquisition of a minority stake in United or the potential financing of another. “I don’t have a problem with state ownership [of clubs],” Čeferin said, “as long as the rules are strict and they follow the rules.”
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