Manchester United could be banned from the UEFA Champions League (UCL) once Sir Jim Ratcliffe completes his minority stake purchase, a UEFA source confirmed on Wednesday (November 22).
Ratcliffe is Britain’s richest man and he is expected to purchase 25% stake at the Manchester club in the coming days under £1.25billion deal.
While this could be great news for fans, who want the Glazers Family to leave club, they may have to pay a big price as they will not be allowed to compete in the biggest club competition due to UEFA’s multi-club ownership rules.
Ratcliffe owns French club OGC Nice and if he completes the purchase of a minority stake, things could get complicated for the 20-time Premier League winners in their pursuit of European football.
UEFA rule on multi-club ownership states that no individual entity "may have control of influence over more than one club participating in a UEFA competition."
This means at a time, only one of Nice or Man United would be able to participate in the Champions League if Ratcliffe bought the stake and kept Nice’s ownership as well.
From next year’s UCL, the top three clubs from Ligue 1 will be awarded a direct qualification to the European competition while one would have to play play-offs to qualify. On the other hand, five PL clubs will be going straight to the UCL.
Nice are currently ranked two in the Ligue 1, France's top-flight football league, points table, just one point away from the leaders Paris Saint-Germain while Man United are currently ranked sixth after 12 matches in the English Premier League.
If, by the end of the season, both clubs end in the direct qualification zone, the club that finishes higher than the other will earn a qualification to the competition while the other will be banned from Europe.
"As the rules stand, it’s a clear situation. Ineos own Nice and are set to have a significant role in running United,” a UEFA source confirmed to TalkSport.
"Unless the regulations are changed, or Ineos sell one of their stakes, they cannot both play in European competitions, unless one is in the Champions league and the other in the Conference League."
