Why Qatar couldn't have both Manchester United and PSG in the Champions League

Manchester United and PSG could be in for complicated Champions League futures, if Qatari investors decide to buy the Premier League giants.

Since November, United fans have been awaiting any news about who might try to buy the club, after the Glazer family revealed they'd be up for selling the club.

The fanbase has not been happy with the ownership from the Americans, who have been more focused to making money, and taking it out of the club to pay themselves, than any sporting success.

Whilst opposition fans would point at the transfer spend in recent years, those around the club would talk about the relative decay of the facilities and the fact that money men have run the show, rather than care about the football side.

Whilst Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been one of the favourites to buy the club, it was revealed on Wednesday that Qatari investors are readying a bid.

They could spend over £8 billion buying the club, pumping money into the overhaul of Old Trafford and giving Erik ten Hag a huge transfer budget.

However, it's been pointed out that if the Premier League side are bought by Qatar Sports Investments then they won't be able to enter the Champions League.

QSI currently own PSG, having bought them in 2011, and according to a UEFA rule, introduced in 1990, two clubs in the competition can't be owned by the same people.

The "Integrity of the UEFA Club competitions: Independence of clubs" rule says that two sides in the same competition can't be directly, or indirectly owned by the same ownership group.

PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi is unlikely to be part of any move to buy United. Image: Alamy

QSI would therefore not be able to be in charge of both clubs and hope for them to both be in the Champions League, and could even have to choose.

That means any Qatari investment into United is likely to come from outside of the group and the clubs would then have to convince UEFA there is enough of a split that they are not indirectly involved.

The same thing happened to RB Leipzig and Red Bull Salzburg, both owned by the Red Bull group, when they qualified for Europe's top club competition in 2017.

After examining both club's in summer 2017, UEFA decided that the two clubs were 'suitably independent' from Red Bull corporation and different from each other that they could compete in the same competition.

The same issues have never cropped up for the City Football Group, who own Manchester City, with none of their sides ever competing in the same competition.