Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani is reportedly ‘confident’ that his bid to buy Manchester United does not breach UEFA rules.
Manchester United are the subject of two confirmed takeover bids, one from Qatar, and another from Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos, with the pair looking to win the race to take control at Old Trafford.
Sheikh Jassim – chairman of Qatar Islamic Bank and son of a former Qatari prime minister – is said to be a Manchester United fan, and has made a bid that would clear the club of it’s debt and has promised to invest in the team, the stadium and the wider club infrastructure.
One potential hurdle are UEFA rules that prevent individuals and organisations from running multiple clubs in the same European competition, with the state-run Qatar Sports Investments already holding a majority stake in PSG.
Sheikh Jassim has announced that he plans to finance his bid through his new Nine Two foundation, a nod to Manchester United’s infamous Class of ’92.
However, according to the Telegraph, Sheikh Jassim is ‘confident’ that his bid would comply with UEFA rules, with the funding coming from his own ‘private wealth’.
The source for the article said that Sheikh Jassim is ‘100 per cent convinced’ that the move is ‘fully compliant’ with all the rules, with ‘absolutely no overlap’ between the Qatar Investment Authority and Qatar Sports Investments.
“If Sheikh Jassim and his office were not entirely convinced – 100 per cent convinced – that this bid would not comply with all regulatory mechanisms in the UK and wider rules then they wouldn’t go through the trouble of submitting the bid,” one source close to the process said.
“From our side, we’re very confident this would be fully compliant with all regulations and is why Sheikh Jassim is going for it.
“On the point of the QIA and QSI, there is absolutely no overlap operationally, legally or from an advisory perspective. If that would have been the case he would not have gone for this bid. He is potentially investing in the club as a private individual.”
QIA is the largest shareholder of the QIB bank that Jassim runs.
Meanwhile, despite the bids, the report adds that there is still ‘some uncertainty over whether the Glazers will cash in on the club’, with co-chairman Joel Glazer said to ‘harbour some reservations about a full sale’.
