When the gentlemen who rule Qatar first invest in football, they tend to think big. In 2010 they won the WC. In 2012, they took full control of the French giants Paris Saint-Germain. Now several British media claim that investors from Qatar are interested in Manchester United. The picture is complicated and the reports say different things, but they all agree that someone in Qatar will put money into a new team, preferably in the Premier League. The American Glazer family, which owns United, put the club up for sale in November. In December, chairman Avram Glazer was in Doha to meet potential investors from Qatar, according to the website The Athletic. But who are the possible investors? And will any of them be allowed to buy United? Interested emir At least four major media outlets in Great Britain have written about interest from Qatar. There have previously been reports of Qatari interest in Tottenham, but now United are on the agenda. So far, Qatar’s investments in football have come from the royal family that rules the country, whose boss is the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. The owner of PSG is Qatar Sports Investments (QSI). This is part of the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), which is the government’s investment fund. PSG’s ownership is thus linked to the emir. This has implications for who can buy United. According to the rules of the European Football Association (UEFA), two clubs with the same majority ownership cannot meet in the same tournament. So if the state of Qatar is going to buy United and participate in the Champions League, they have to sell PSG. Nevertheless, several media say that investors linked to the state of Qatar are considering bidding for United. World Cup: Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani together with Lionel Messi when the Argentine was presented with the World Cup trophy. Photo: CARL RECINE / Reuters The newspaper The Times writes that a fund linked to the royal family is interested, and that they are considering a bid by February 17, a date United has set as a deadline for written confirmations of bids. The Times has previously written that the state of Qatar wants to enter the Premier League. Certainly those who are considering bidding for United now are not connected to QSI. The Daily Mail claims that it is about “private” investors, again unrelated to QSI. The Guardian reports that the Emir himself is interested in United. The Athletic has also written that the emir wants to invest in the Premier League, and that there is interest in United. The news agency AP reports that QSI is working with other international investors to buy part of an English club, such as United, and that a full takeover is out of the question. Journalist Ben Jacobs, from CBS, writes that all the various investors in question will ultimately work together on a bid, with cooperation from the state, and that the chances are greatest that they will try to take over the entire club. The only thing all these reports have in common is that investors in Qatar are interested in United. Then there is the question of whether an acquisition will even be possible. Premier League under pressure The first hurdle will be the Premier League, which must approve the sale. The league has criteria for who can own a club, but has been criticized for not being strict enough. In October 2021, they allowed Saudi Arabia’s Petroleum Fund (PIF) to take over Newcastle United, after the fund convinced the league that the state would not interfere in the club’s operations. This despite the fact that the fund’s chairman is Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who rules the country. The Premier League received harsh criticism from several quarters, especially from human rights organisations. CHAIRMAN: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is also chairman of the fund that owns Newcastle. Photo: Jacquelyn Martin / AP Later this month, the British government will propose plans for an independent body to help manage the Premier League, which the league itself does not want. Like Saudi Arabia, Qatar is a country with multiple violations of human rights, mistreatment of migrant workers and discrimination against homosexuals. If the Premier League allows someone connected to the Qatari state to take over United, criticism will increase. Amnesty has already said that a bid for United from Qatar is “very likely” to be a continuation of the state’s sports laundering. Need new rules If the investors get past this hurdle, they must convince UEFA that they are not connected to QSI, which owns PSG. Several of the sources who have spoken to the newspapers have taken care to create distance between the possible investors and the state of Qatar. But even if the investors were private, skepticism will soon arise when people know that the royal family controls everything in Qatar, and that investing in football is a national strategy. Nevertheless, there are arguments that Qatar can use against UEFA. There has already been a similar case. In 2017, UEFA investigated the teams RB Salzburg and Leipzig, both of which were to participate in the Champions League in 2017–18. Both were owned by the energy drink Red Bull. After changes from the two teams, UEFA gave the green light. In 2018, RB Salzburg and Leipzig met in the Europa League. RED OXS: Salzburg and Leipzig met for a match. Photo: MATTHIAS RIETSCHEL / Reuters If the emir himself is to buy United, UEFA will most likely have to change the rules for United to play in the Champions League. That is unlikely to happen. Or will it? Saving angel Qatar has a lot of influence in UEFA. When 12 of Europe’s biggest clubs tried to found the Super League in April 2021, PSG was one of the two biggest teams that refused to join. The second was Bayern Munich (where one of the sponsors is the state airline Qatar Airways). The Superliga was dangerous for UEFA, who risked losing their most popular clubs from the lucrative Champions League. For President Aleksander Čeferin, it was a crisis. The saving angel for Čeferin was Qatari Nasser al-Khelaifi, president of PSG and QSI, who has close ties to the emir. He is also the head of BeIN SPORTS, the Qatari TV network that has bought rights to the Champions League from UEFA for several regions. OWNER: Al-Khelaifi together with PSG star Kylian Mbappé. Photo: Michel Spingler / AP Al-Khelaifi slaughtered the Super League and took UEFA’s side. When the Super League collapsed, he became the new president of ECA, an organization independent of UEFA that represents Europe’s leading clubs. Al-Khelaifi also sits on the powerful UEFA executive committee. In the EC in 2021, one of the sponsors was Qatar Airways. Should anyone from the state of Qatar try to influence UEFA’s rules, they have an ally on the inside. Busy neighbors These factors make it difficult to rule anything out. Qatar has good reasons to continue its foray into international football. The state wants more economic legs to stand on, since the natural gas that makes the country so rich will one day run out. Success in football can divert attention away from various violations of human rights. Qatar considers the World Cup a great success. But now the WC is over. Neighbors Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates each have teams in England: Newcastle and Manchester City. Saudi Arabia also wants to have the World Cup in 2030 together with Egypt and Greece, and Bin Salman is friends with FIFA president Gianni Infantino. It recently emerged that Saudi Arabia’s tourism agency will sponsor the Women’s World Cup this summer. Saudi Arabia will also host the Asian Championship in 2027. Qatar? They “only” own PSG, plus 22 percent of the shares in Portuguese club Braga. The head of the QIA, Mansoor bin Ebrahim Al-Mahmoud, said in January that “nobody should be surprised” if Qatar invests more in football. There have previously been rumors of discussions with Tottenham as well, without them having led to anything. Anyway: Everything indicates that Qatar is in football to stay. Should a bid for United be confirmed, controversies will abound, but Qatar is used to this sort of thing. For a state that secured the World Cup ahead of the USA, a purchase will hardly appear impossible.
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