Topics: Manchester United, Man Utd, Champions League, Europa League
The winner of next Wednesday's Europa League final in Bilbao will qualify automatically for the league phase of next season's Champions League but Manchester United might need to make some changes first.
Man Utd 'could be banned' from the Champions League according to renowned Manchester title Liverpool.com and it comes down to the Red Devils' partial ownership by Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos.
Ratcliffe owns around 29% of Manchester United and assumed control of the club's football operations.
But he also owns French Ligue 1 side Nice, who are fourth in the table and positioned for a place in the Champions League third qualifying round.
Advert
UEFA has rules around multi-club ownership and their teams participating in the same competition under the European governing body's auspices.
Those rules have been changed and it's now less likely than before that either United or Nice – both of whom played in the Europa League this season – would face a ban.
"Under previous UEFA regulations, two clubs under the same ownership were barred from participating in different European competitions," reads the Liverpool.com report.
"Given that Sir Jim Ratcliffe has stakes in both Man United and Ligue 1 side Nice, it would have been impossible for both teams to compete in European football."
There is now no blanket rule to that effect. UEFA has adopted a more bespoke process with shared ownership pairs such as Chelsea and Strasbourg or the Red Bull teams posing the question more regularly.
No two multi-club ownership pairs are alike and UEFA now seeks to be flexible enough to legislate around that.
"Currently, UEFA evaluates potential conflicts of interest on a case-by-case basis, which is evident from the acceptance of United and Nice in the Europa League, as well as Manchester City and Girona competing in the same season's tournament," continues the report.
Discussions between Ratcliffe and UEFA have in fact already taken place and the chances of a ban are vanishingly small.
Liverpool.com quotes Ratcliffe himself: "No, there are no circumstances upon which an ownership of Nice would prevent Manchester United from playing in the Champions League. I'll be crystal clear on that. We have spoken to UEFA and I have to say the conversation wasn't directed at, 'you have to solve this problem and you know we don't like it'. We have an issue and we might have to change some things."
As long as key football personnel are not shared between the two clubs, that issue should prove inconsequential.
