UEFA and Premier League urged to block Qatar bid for Manchester United

UEFA and the Premier League have been urged to block a potential Qatari bid for Manchester United.

Manchester United are officially up for sale, with the current owners, the Glazer family, having reportedly set a soft deadline of February 17th for interested parties to submit their bids to The Raine Group, the company overseeing the takeover.

So far, only Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos have officially announced their intention to make an offer, though there have been widespread reports that there is expected to be a bid from private investors in Qatar.

Qatar Sports Investments are the current owners of French giants PSG, and UEFA rules prevent two clubs owned by the same party from competing in the same European competition as each other.

Reports this week have suggested that UEFA would not block the reported interest from Qatar, however, with the imminent bid set to be from a ‘separate entity’, the Qatar Investment Authority.

However, according to The Athletic, Human rights research and advocacy group FairSquare has now written to UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin, copying in general secretary Theodore Theodoridis and Premier League chief executive Richard Masters, urging UEFA to stop any takeover of United while QSI still owns PSG.

“A basic study of Qatar’s political and economic system amply demonstrates the impossibility of any Qatari consortium proving itself independent of state influence, and thus separate from the ownership of PSG,” the letter reads.

“Freedom House’s World Freedom Index classifies Qatar as ‘not free’, and its most recent assessment is highly critical of Qatar’s record on the rule of law, corruption, and political participation: ‘Qatar’s hereditary emir holds all executive and legislative authority and ultimately controls the judiciary.’

“UEFA’s Statutes are very clear on the critical importance of ensuring that no single party can exercise control or influence over more than one club, and this is all the more important when the owners are states.

“State ownership of European football clubs jeopardises the integrity of the game, its proclaimed values and its sustainability.”

However, RB Leipzig and RB Salzburg have both been allowed to compete in the Champions League despite both being owned by energy drink company, Red Bull, after proving they were controlled by separate entities.