Jim Ratcliffe unlikely to release control of Nice

Jim Ratcliffe speaking to The Athletic explained that it was unlikely he would have to relinquish his ownership of OGC Nice, in the event that Manchester United and Nice both qualified for the Champions League this season.

Under article 5 of their rules and regulations, UEFA prohibits multi-club ownership in its European competitions, and Ratcliffe’s status as majority owner of Nice and minority owner of United could prove to be a problem for one of the teams, as only one of Nice or United would be allowed to qualify.

However, as Ratcliffe states, “We’ve spoken to UEFA, there are no circumstances upon which an ownership of Nice would prevent Manchester United from playing in the Champions League — I’ll be crystal clear on that.”

The new minority owner of United continued, “It says you have to change the ownership structure. So it’s all about influence and positions on the board and that sort of thing. So, a) the rules are changing, and, b) there are shades of grey, not black and white.”

This would likely see a similar scenario develop for the two clubs as occurred with AC Milan and Toulouse FC over the summer, wherein both qualified for European competitions and therefore necessitated a shift not in the ownership, but in the club hierarchy. After these internal changes, both clubs were then able to be admitted into their competitions.

GFFN | Nick Hartland