Man United takeover: Qatar now ‘joining the dots’ ahead of 10pm deadline
The Qatari state is using Man United to “join the dots” to further its own geopolitical and financial interests, Football Insider has been told.
Several groups from the oil-rich Gulf state including the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the nation’s sovereign wealth fund, will lodge bids ahead of tonight’s (17 February) 10pm deadline.
Qatar Sports Investment, a direct subsidiary of QIA, own Paris Saint-Germain – but Uefa have reportedly confirmed that QIA ownership of United would not be in violation of its conflict of interest rules.
Significantly, PSG president and QSI chairman Nasser Al-Khelaiffi sits on Uefa’s executive committee.
QIA would also have to provide the Premier League with assurances that there would be no state involvement in United, but that was not a hurdle to the Saudi Public Investment Fund’s 2021 takeover of Newcastle.
But geopolitical experts like Professor Simon Chadwick believe that, while it may be legally true, the notion that there would not be direct input from the Qatari government into the running of the Red Devils is a fiction.
Chadwick, who works at the world-renowned SKEMA Business school in Paris, used the example of PSG under QSI ownership to illustrate what he believes is Qatar’s real motive for investing in a Premier League club.
“Paris Saint-Germain have Qatar Airways on the front of their shirts and Visit Rwanda on their sleeves,” he told Football Insider.
“Obviously, PSG are owned by Qatar, as is Qatar Airways. The Visit Rwanda deal is really significant because the new airport in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital, has been paid for by Qatar.
“Air Rwanda, which most people will take to fly to Kigaili, is 49-per-cent-owned by Qatar as well. Clubs and their shirts are becoming an economic and political interest for these countries.
“There is a lot of speculation about a Saudi Arabian project becoming Newcastle’s shirt sponsor. These clubs are not trophy assets and this is not altruism. It’s not like the Emir of Qatar went to school in Manchester.
“They’re very hard-nosed and strategic about this. What they are trying to do is create industrial networks to drive economic benefit, achieve geopolitical returns and project soft power.
“They are incredibly well advised and essentially what they are trying to do is to join the dots in a much wider economic and political network.
“What is interesting is that the Mersey freeport has been extended down the ship canal to Salford. That means, if the Qataris buy United, they have an asset that sits at the end of a freeport zone.
“If Qatar takes over United, potentially what we are going to have is Qatari-funded economic and industrial developments, which enjoy freeport status.
“When Qatar bought PSG, there was a lot of resentment in Qatar at the time. People were asking why they didn’t invest in a Qatari club. But this just shows you where the power rests commercially, which is the Premier League.“
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