Qatar Group Ownership of Manchester United & Paris Saint-Germain: Champions League Impact

MANCHESTER UNITED could be joining Paris Saint-Germain under the umbrella of a Qatari investment group – but that could result in some unintended consequences.

The Glazers announced in November that they are willing to listen to suitable offers for a stake in the Premier League giants.

Qatar, ruled by Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani (above), has owned PSG since 2011Credit: AP

But since then, reports suggest that the United owners are now more interested in a FULL takeover bid.

And it seems as if the most recent interest is coming from a Qatari group who could lodge a tantalising offer within the next few days.

However, the same group owning two clubs in European competition may cause a slight problem.

What happens if Qatar own Man Utd and PSG at the same time?

There are no restrictions on an owner acquiring multiple clubs at the same time in different countries.

That means the reported Qatari group who are readying a bid for Manchester United, would have no problems doing so even if they are indistinguishable from the one in charge of Paris Saint-Germain.

However, other rules apply to certain leagues where potential buyers of clubs do have restrictions.

An example of this is the Premier Leaguem, which has restricted shareholding in a second club in the division to 10%.

Can both teams play in Champions League?

UEFA implemented a ‘Integrity of the UEFA Club competitions: Independence of clubs’ rule in 1998 which states that no two clubs participating in a UEFA competition may be directly or indirectly controlled by the same ownership group.

This is defined by:

• The majority of the shareholders’ voting rights in another club in the same UEFA club competition;
• Or, another right to appoint or remove a majority of the directors in another club in the same UEFA club competition;
• As well as, majority of the shareholders’ voting rights (through a shareholders’ agreement) in another club in the same UEFA club competition.

Therefore, if a Qatari group owned United while they and PSG qualify for the Champions League, the ownership group would more than likely have to choose who plays in it.

These rules have been put in to place to protect the integrity of the competition.