According to recent reports, UEFA has reached a decision regarding Manchester United’s eligibility for European competitions next season.
Manchester United, partially owned by British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his company INEOS, shares ownership ties with French Ligue 1 club Nice, which is majority-owned by the same entities.
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Nice is currently managed by Francesco Farioli and is in fifth place, while Manchester United, managed by Erik ten Hag, is in sixth place in the Premier League, trailing the fourth-placed team by nine points with one less game played.
UEFA’s regulations prohibit two teams with common ownership from participating in the same European competition during the same season.
Presently, both Nice and Manchester United are positioned to qualify for the Europa League based on their league standings.
However, UEFA recently updated their integrity rules, stating that if both clubs qualify for the same competition, only one may participate.
According to these rules, the club with the lower league finish would be relegated to a lesser competition. This means that if both teams qualify for the Europa League, Manchester United, being the lower-ranked team, would be relegated to the Europa Conference League.
Despite this, the Daily Mail reports that Manchester United has received assurances from UEFA that they will be allowed to compete in the Europa League should this situation occur. The club has reportedly been in discussions with UEFA about this potential scenario for some time.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has previously stated that under no circumstances would his ownership of Nice interfere with Manchester United’s participation in the same European competition.
He said: “It [the UEFA rules] says you have to change the ownership structure. So it’s all about influence and positions on the board and that sort of thing.
“A: the rules are changing, and B: there are shades of grey not black and white. Manchester City will probably have the problem before we have the problem because they’ve obviously got [ownership of, through the City Football Group] Girona.”
