MANCHESTER UNITED could join Paris Saint-Germain under the umbrella of a Qatari investment group – but that could lead to unintended consequences.
The Glazers announced in November that they were ready to entertain suitable offers for a stake in the Premier League giants.
But since then, reports have suggested United owners are now more interested in a FULL takeover bid.
And it looks as if the most recent interest came from a Qatari group that could submit a tempting offer in the coming days.
However, the same group with two clubs in European competition can pose a slight problem.
What if Qatar owns Man Utd and PSG at the same time?
There are no restrictions for an owner who acquires several clubs at the same time in different countries.
This means that the reported Qatari group preparing a bid for Manchester United would have no problem doing so even if it is indistinguishable from the one in charge of Paris Saint-Germain.
However, other rules apply to certain leagues where potential club buyers have restrictions.
An example is the Premier League, which has limited participation in a second division club to 10%.
Can both teams play in the Champions League?
UEFA introduced a rule “Integrity of UEFA club competitions: independence of clubs” in 1998, which stipulates that no club participating in a UEFA competition may be controlled directly or indirectly by the same property group.
This is defined by:
- The majority of shareholder voting rights of another club in the same UEFA club competition;
- Or, another right to appoint or dismiss the majority of directors of another club in the same UEFA club competition;
- As well as the majority of shareholder voting rights (through a shareholders’ agreement) in another club in the same UEFA club competition.
Therefore, if a Qatari group owned United as he and PSG qualified for the Champions League, the owning group would more than likely have to choose who plays there.
These rules have been put in place to protect the integrity of the competition.
