There is suddenly a lot more optimism around Manchester United.
A run of four straight wins in the Premier League has put them back in the race to qualify for next season’s Champions League, with Erik ten Hag’s side now five points adrift of fourth-place Aston Villa with 13 games remaining.
Due to a format change that comes into effect in 2024-25, even a fifth-place finish may be enough to earn a spot in European football’s elite club competition and United are now only three points behind Tottenham Hotspur, who currently occupy that position.
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But with Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s minority investment nearing completion, United are set to become part of a multi-club operation and European football governing body UEFA’s rules could cause a headache on that front.
Ratcliffe-owned Nice are currently third in France’s Ligue 1, 13 points behind leaders Paris Saint-Germain, a point adrift of Brest and one ahead of fourth-place Lille. A top-three finish would see Nice automatically qualify for the Champions League proper, while dropping to fourth would put them into the third of four qualifying rounds.
UEFA has rules designed to prevent matches between clubs with ties to each other to maintain the integrity of the competition, but as ever, there are caveats. In theory, United and Nice will not be able to play in the same competition unless UEFA are satisfied they are sufficiently separate entities.
The Athletic explains the situation…
What are UEFA’s rules?
The relevant section in UEFA’s rulebook is Article Five, which states that no individual or legal entity can have “control or influence” over more than one club participating in a UEFA competition.
Ratcliffe may only be a minority shareholder in United — with his stake eventually set to rise to 29 per cent — but his $1.65billion investment will also see INEOS assume control of football operations at Old Trafford.
And despite an expectation that INEOS’ influence would only be across football-related matters, the scope and breadth of its responsibilities is expected to be wider than initially thought. At a staff meeting last month, interim chief executive Patrick Stewart informed employees that Ratcliffe’s team will also liaise with the Glazer family, who remain the majority owners, more broadly on business matters. A clean division of affairs is now deemed unrealistic.
That would appear to amount to “a decisive influence in the decision-making of the club”, as per UEFA, and so could see United and Nice run up against the rulebook if both qualify for the same European competition.
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Could United be kicked out of the Champions League?
They would need to be in it first, which is far from guaranteed given they are sixth in the Premier League table.
But if both they and Nice do qualify, their ability to participate would then depend on whether UEFA’s club financial control body (CFCB) agrees that Ratcliffe and INEOS have a “decisive influence” over decision-making at Old Trafford. If they did, one of United or Nice would have to drop out.
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Whichever club had secured a higher domestic league position would then take priority. The other one would compete in the second-tier Europa League instead. If the clubs in question finish in the same position in their respective leagues, the one playing in the league with a higher UEFA coefficient would take priority (and that would be United).
If Nice maintain their impressive display in Ligue 1 and finish as runners-up to runaway leaders PSG, United would need to match that to guarantee they are preferred over their would-be sister club. That will be a tough ask — Arsenal are currently second with 11 more points than them and Manchester City will take that position and be 12 ahead of United if they win their game in hand at home to Brentford tonight (Tuesday).
UEFA has previously investigated links between clubs if both have qualified for any of their three competitions, but from next season, it will only be an issue if the clubs in question are set to participate in the same one.
Clubs eliminated from the Champions League after the group phase will no longer drop into the Europa League’s knockout rounds in the incoming Swiss model format, so there will no longer be a risk of two linked clubs unexpectedly playing each other later in a season.
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What are the precedents?
The most notable example of two clubs from the same ownership group competing in UEFA competition involved RB Leipzig and Red Bull Salzburg — both part of the multi-club network established by drinks manufacturer Red Bull.
In 2017, UEFA opened an investigation into the links between the German and Austrian clubs after they both qualified for the Champions League. Both were eventually admitted after the CFCB found no breach of Article Five, but only after being satisfied by “several important governance and structural changes” regarding “corporate matters, financing, personnel and sponsorship management”.
Although they did not play each other in that 2017-18 season’s Champions League — Leipzig qualified directly for the groups while Salzburg went out in the qualifying rounds — they did meet in the group stage of the Europa League the following year.
Multi-club ownership has been on the rise in the years since, with a UEFA report published last year finding that 31 multi-club investments were made during the 2021-22 season.
Last summer saw the European game’s governing body confronted with several potential conflicts of interest, with relationships between England’s Aston Villa and Vitoria Guimaraes of Portugal, Brighton & Hove Albion from England and Belgium’s Union Saint-Gilloise (USG), and AC Milan of Italy and France’s Toulouse examined. UEFA later announced the clubs in question were free to play in European competition this season “following the implementation of significant changes by the clubs and their related investors”.
In Villa’s case, co-owners Wes Edens and Nassef Sawiris reduced their stake in Vitoria from 46 per cent to 29 per cent. Tony Bloom, Brighton’s owner, also reduced his stake in USG to 25 per cent. This is one option that would be available to INEOS if both United and Nice qualify for the same competition.
UEFA also imposed tougher conditions compared to the Leipzig-Salzburg case by prohibiting the partner clubs from exchanging players through either permanent transfers or loans until September this year. The six clubs involved also agreed not to enter into technical or commercial partnerships, or share scouting networks.
There is also a potential conflict of interest emerging on the other side of Manchester, with City’s ties to Spanish club Girona likely to be examined if both reach next season’s Champions League. Girona, who are enjoying a remarkable campaign in La Liga, are part of City Football Group — a worldwide network of 13 clubs with the reigning Premier League, European and world champions as the flagship.
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What is United and Ratcliffe’s position?
Ratcliffe’s investment will throw United head-first into the debate over multi-club ownership, whether that be regarding the integrity of the European competitions or the wider issue of related-party transactions.
United have an open dialogue with UEFA on many aspects of European football governance, including but not limited to multi-club rules, and that is expected to continue following the anticipated confirmation of Ratcliffe’s investment.
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Old Trafford figures have worked to improve and repair relations with both the governing body and the European Club Association following their role in the failed European Super League project three years ago and intend to take a more active role in both organisations in the future. Theodore Theodoridis, UEFA’s general secretary, was hosted by CEO Stewart at Old Trafford for the recent win over West Ham United.
As for INEOS, those close to Ratcliffe say the issue has been on the radar since the initial stages of its bid to invest in the club. Any potential conflict of interest remains a hypothetical prospect for the moment, but in the event one does arise, Ratcliffe’s team are committed to sitting down with UEFA to find a solution which works for both teams and European football’s governing body.
That would not necessarily mean giving up their interest in either club entirely, but sources say last summer’s resolutions involving fellow Premier League sides Villa and Brighton show that compromises are possible.
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Could the rules change?
Yes, and they could be strengthened — as outlined by Aleksander Ceferin, the UEFA president, in a recent interview.
Speaking to UK newspaper The Daily Telegraph, Ceferin revealed a meeting was held last month related to the multi-club ownership issue and suggested he would like to see the definition of “decisive influence” clarified, believing that the current regulations are too open to interpretation.
“You know football,” Ceferin said. “Big English club can lose 3-0 to a small Portuguese club, if you want, because they have a bad day. Imagine that it’s the same ownership. (People would) say, ‘Look, your competition is fixed’, and then you start losing everything. This is my biggest problem, where I don’t have a solution.”
UEFA has previously said multi-club ownership has “the potential to pose a material threat to the integrity of European club competitions, with a growing risk of seeing two clubs with the same owner or investor facing each other on the pitch”.
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Given Ratcliffe’s investment in United has received Premier League approval and is set to be completed imminently, any change of rules will come too late to frustrate an already long and drawn-out process.
Even so, before the season is over, arguably the most complex investment yet in a Premier League club could get even more complicated.
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(Top photo: Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)