Billionaire Jim Ratcliffe’s acquisition of club shares could cause Man Utd to violate Champions League regulations.
According to the regulations of the European Football Federation (UEFA), two clubs with the same owner will not be able to participate in the same European Cup tournament. This will affect Manchester United.
The owner of this club is preparing to sell 25% of its shares to Jim Ratcliffe, and at the same time give full decision-making authority on football management to the British billionaire. This businessman also owns another football team, Nice. Currently, this club is ranked 2nd in Ligue 1.
In case both Man Utd and Nice qualify for the Champions League, one of the two teams will be deprived of the right to compete in the tournament. In case the positions of Man Utd in the Premier League and Nice in Ligue 1 are equal, the “Red Devils” will be able to participate in the Champions League because the English tournament is on UEFA’s list of priority countries.
Man Utd and Nice will only be able to participate in the European Cup, if one team participates in the Champions League, the other team participates in the Conference League. UEFA wants to eliminate the possibility of teams with the same owner meeting in the Europa League, following the path of falling from the Champions League group stage.