Sir Jim Ratcliffe could face FIFA sanctions amid potential Man Utd takeover

Sir Jim Ratcliffe's attention could be turned away from the Manchester United takeover and back to Nice as he faces potential FIFA sanctions.

The battle to pry United out of the cold alive hands of the Glazer family has dragged on for months and months and continues at an extremely slow speed.

It was during the World Cup that the much hated Americans announced they were looking for new investment into the club and potentially a full sale.

Since then Britain's richest man Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim from Qatar have gone through several rounds of bidding to become the preferred bidder.

The process could be really sped up on Friday with Sheikh Jassim putting in his fifth bid this week and giving the current owners till the end of the week to decide.

It had long been thought that childhood United fan Ratcliffe would be the preferred bidder as he is including giving the Glazers a minority share in his offer.

The 70-year-old and his company INEOS currently own Ligue 1 side Nice who are looking for a new manager this summer after Lucien Favre was sacked earlier in the year.

Their search for a new boss has taken them to Lorient manager Regis Le Bris, however their French rivals aren't happy with the approach and have called on FIFA to sanction Ratcliffe's team.

Regis Le Bris is wanted by Nice. Image: Alamy

“After consultation with the board of directors, the vital forces of the club and its partners, FC Lorient has taken the decision not to release Regis Le Bris from his contract," the club said.

"FC Lorient has reminded OGC Nice in writing of its obligations to respect article 211 of the Administrative Regulations of the LFP.

"The club also plans to seize the LFP and Fifa to denounce the repeated practices of OGC Nice and request sanctions against the club."

Ratcliffe outside Old Trafford. Image: Alamy

Any takeover of United is taking a long whilst and is impacting the club's pans for the summer transfer window and their progress next season.

Jassim is said to be 'fed up' by everything going on and the process has been criticised by Gary Neville as the latest example of the Glazers poor running of the club.

Topics: Football, Manchester United, FIFA, Premier League, Nice, Ligue 1, France

Ryan Sidle

Ryan is a journalist for SPORTbible with over eight years of experience. Passionate about all sports, he mainly covers football and F1 - Daniel Ricciardo once spent an entire interview referring to him as 'Ryan Gosling,' still his proudest moment.

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