UEFA President sends mixed signals on United takeover

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin was in Manchester on Friday telling the Football Supporters Europe conference that the ruling body is aware of the potential conflicts caused by multi-club ownership.

His remarks were interpreted as a negative for both potential purchasers of Manchester United.

Sir Jim Ratliffe’s Ineos also owns French club Nice and Swiss club FC Lausanne-Sport, while the Qatar investor Sheikh Jassim has close ties to the Qatar sovereign wealth fund which also owns French champions Paris St Germain.

Ceferin admitted that UEFA “pretends” clubs playing in major competitions don’t share owners.

He also took he opportunity to apologise to Manchester City supporters who travelled to Istanbul for the Champions League Final for the poor facilities in the stadium. 

Salford City owner Gary Neville addressed the conference at Manchester Metropolitan University and said football clubs should be afforded greater protection in government legislation “Football clubs are community assets – they should be protected like listed buildings. They aren’t supermarkets.”

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham also welcomed the conference to Manchester.