Manchester United could be denied European place due to Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s ownership
Erik ten Hag’s team, albeit not making it to Europe through the Premier League, has qualified for the Europa League by defeating fierce rivals Manchester City in the FA Cup.
But because of United’s newfound ties to Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS, they might be demoted to the Europa Conference League or kicked out of Europe entirely.
This is justified by the fact that Nice, a French team, is owned by INEOS, which owns a minority investment in the Manchester team. After placing fifth, the Ligue 1 team qualified for the Europa League the following year, which is where the issue lies.
A multi-club ownership rule implemented by UEFA in their competitions may have an immediate impact on United.
The blue side of Manchester is also involved in this issue because their owners own a share in the Spanish team Girona. Manchester United is not the only Manchester team facing this issue.
For what reason might Manchester United be demoted to the Europa Conference League, or even worse?
Because both the Manchester team and the French team, Nice, have ties to INEOS chief Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Erik ten Hag’s team may be demoted to the Conference League.
UEFA laws prohibit clubs owned by the same person from competing in the same competition, which presents a challenge for INEOS.
This falls under a specific UEFA regulation known as multi-club ownership (MCO).
Owners are limited to owning one club and a maximum of 30 percent of another due to UEFA’s MCO rule.
In order to preserve the competition’s fairness and integrity, UEFA implemented a regulation prohibiting any one organisation from exerting significant influence over many clubs participating in the same event.
Dissection of INEOS’s ties to Nice and United
As of right now, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the chairman of INEOS, owns all of the French team as well as 27.7% of Manchester United.
In December, Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his INEOS Group paid almost £1 billion for their ownership share in the club. After an additional £238 million investment, their share is expected to increase to about 30%.
But, the businessman’s intentions to increase his stake in the Manchester team raise the possibility that INEOS may soon run into serious issues with UEFA.
According to UEFA’s current MCO regulations, owners are limited to owning one club and a maximum of thirty percent of another.
A team owned by INEOS would be demoted to the Conference League if Ratcliffe and INEOS extend their ownership of Manchester United, which they plan to do.
A club that is replaced in one competition’may nevertheless be admitted to another UEFA club competition (i.e. in descending order: UEFA Europa League or UEFA Conference League) to which the relevant national association has access,’ according to Article 5.04 of the UEFA regulations.
In this case, Manchester United would be that team because they placed lower in their respective leagues than Nice.
INEOS comment on UEFA’s MCO restrictions INEOS issued a statement on their current circumstances, expressing “confidence” that both Manchester United and Nice will be permitted to compete in the Europa League in the upcoming season.
In a group statement, Sir Jim Ratcliffe said, “We are in direct dialogue with UEFA and are aware of the position of the two clubs.”
“We are confident that we have a plan for the upcoming European season.”
Given that their ownership share in Manchester is now less than the thirty percent threshold required for the multi-club ownership rules to take effect, INEOS is optimistic that they will successfully navigate UEFA’s MCO restrictions.
The regulations pertaining to the matter have been loosened ahead of the upcoming season, even if Ratcliffe is expected to surpass the thirty percent mark with intentions to augment his investment.
The deadline set by UEFA
There are other Premier League teams besides Manchester United that will have issues in Europe the next year.
In the Champions League, their neighbours Manchester City deal with the same problem.
Given that the Abu Dhabi-founded company has shares in 13 teams globally, including Girona in Spain and Manchester City, the regulations governing multi-club ownership have been put to the test by Manchester City’s Abu Dhabi investors.
Manchester United has until Monday, June 3 to convince UEFA to allow both of their teams to play in the same tournament concurrently the following season, according to The Telegraph.
Owing to the incredibly short timeline, UEFA is presenting clubs with the option to sell shares if necessary.
The “transfer or assignment of all its shares in a club to an independent third party,” such as a blind trust, is acceptable to UEFA. The only interest of the club will be served by this trust.