United could be out of Europe due to Ratcliffe's connections with Nice

For many Manchester fans, the Glazer family must leave United immediately and for that there is no excuse and compromise. For others, the entrance of Sir Jim Ratcliffe as a minority owner with a 25% stake is better than anything, since they believe that the British billionaire will try to get things right. Much has been said about his future involvement, but the most of that will happen in the sporting department, where Ratcliffe will be operating. New sporting director, new CEO, rebuilding of the squad are the things on which he will focus his attention, and for many fans, these are important things and they are supporting this, since they cannot force Glazers out. But the latest reports are saying that Ratcliffe’s involvement in United could hurt the Red Devils.

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It is known that Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s empire Ineos Group already owns French club Nice, and according to The Sun, Manchester United could be kicked out of European competitions if Nice finishes above them in the Ligue 1. Apparently, UEFA's 'multi-club ownership’ rules state that if both teams finish in a Champions League spot, the team that finishes higher of the two gets the place with the other banned from Europe. And considering current Nice and United’s form, it’s not so unrealistic that the French club will finish above Red Devils in May. If the two clubs finish in the same position, UEFA regulates that the club whose league is higher on their list will have advantage, in this case Manchester. The only way United and Nice can both play in Europe next season is if one seals an automatic Champions League spot and the other qualifies directly for the Europa Conference League.

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“Unless the regulations are changed, or Ineos sell one of their stakes, they cannot both play in European competitions, unless one is in the Champions league and the other in the Conference League” said a unanimous UEFA source to The Sun. This also applies to other clubs, so for example, if by any chance Spain’s Girona (currently on top of La Liga) somehow wins the championship, it’s owner Manchester City would also have to win the league in order to participate in Europe! For the Citizens, this scenario is not real, considering Girona’s strength, but for out-of-form United and in-form Nice, things could be tricky come may.

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So far, the season is still at the beginning, and Ratcliffe hasn’t been certified as the 25% minority owner. Similar situation happened with Red Bull, as the company owns Salzburg (Austria) and Leipzig (Germany), and both clubs even met in the Champions League, which shouldn’t be possible under these UEFA rules. However, when the question was first raised in 2017, Salzburg chose to remove members of staff that were allegedly linked to Red Bull and their cooperation deal with Leipzig was ended with the sponsorship scaled back. Once all of these changes were made, UEFA then accepted that there was ‘insufficient evidence’ that the clubs had a shared ownership and they were both allowed to compete in Europe. Things have been tightened up by UEFA since, so it will be interested to see what happens in May 2024.