Man Wan: La Jue is not afraid of Manchester United s conflict with Nice if they enter the Champions League, Berrada has similar experience at Manchester City

On May 19, Manchester United will play against Tottenham Hotspur in the UEFA Cup final, and the champion team will qualify for the Champions League next season. The French Ligue 1 season has ended, and Nice finished fourth and entered the Champions League next season. Since the owner of Nice Club is also Ratcliff, if Manchester United is shortlisted for the Champions League, the two teams may have conflicts of ownership, the Manchester Evening News analyzed this.

Previously, UEFA stipulated that two clubs under the same controller could not participate in any European competition at the same time. However, in order to adapt to the ownership model of various clubs, UEFA now adopts the method of individual case analysis when dealing with related issues. For example, this season, Manchester City and Girona, who also belong to the City Football Group, participated in the Champions League together.

In fact, both Manchester United and Nice participated in the UEFA Cup this season. Ratcliff is not worried about the ownership conflict that may occur in the Champions League next season. Although major decision-making power has been handed over to the trustees due to Ratcliff being forced to transfer Nice’s shares into a “blind trust”, the shares will be transferred back on July 1, which could cause problems.

In response, UEFA issued a statement clarifying the differences required to allow two teams to participate at the same time. The statement said: "No one shall participate in the management, administrative and/or sports subjects of more than one club participating in UEFA club competitions in any form; no one shall control or decisively influence more than one club participating in UEFA club competitions."

Ratcliff is also considering the sale of the Nice Club, so if this transaction is approved, there should be no problem. And before that, he also explained why he was not worried that Manchester United would be banned from the Champions League: "I'm very clear about this, the rules say you have to change the ownership structure, which involves management positions and other issues. But first, these rules are changing; secondly, these rules are not black or white. Manchester City was the first to encounter this problem because they belong to the same group as Girona.

"We have communicated with UEFA and they didn't say directly, 'You have to solve this problem, we don't like it'. We do have a problem and may need to make some adjustments. But they also recognize that in many cases, the multi-club model is of great benefit to small clubs. UEFA is also worried that if the multi-club model is banned, small clubs will lose a lot of the benefits they get from big clubs. But they are more worried that if there are allegations that this will affect the fairness of the game.

"Actually, we don't know much about the benefits of the multi-club model, but now Berrada works at Manchester United. He has played an important role in the very successful multi-club model, that is Manchester City. Therefore, we need to spend more time analyzing this model with Berrada and then making a decision. In short, I have a positive attitude towards it. In addition, UEFA's regulations are also changing, so we must make decisions while considering UEFA's future direction and possible restrictions."

After such a confident statement, Nice at least does not have to worry about participating in the Champions League. If Manchester United beat Tottenham Hotspur, Nice's Champions League qualification will bring a problem that needs to be solved for Sir Ratcliff.