Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani's proposed bid to buy Manchester United has received a huge boost after it was revealed that UEFA are considering allowing clubs with the same owners to play in the Champions League.
Al-Thani is the chairman of one of Qatar's biggest banks and there are concerns about his links to Qatari-owned Paris Saint-Germain. However, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has claimed that a rethink of the existing rules was needed, with PSG and United both set to feature in Europe's top club competition next season.
The two options stated was to keep the current rules and stop clubs with the same owner competition in the competition or allow them to take part. It has now been confirmed that the latter is being explored - which could be a massive boost to Al-Thani's bid to become the next United owner.
When asked about the possibility of having two clubs with the same owner, Ceferin told The Overlap: "We are not thinking about Manchester United only. We've had five or six owners of clubs who want to buy another club. We have to see what to do.
"The options are that it stays like that or that we allow them to play in the same competition. I'm not sure yet.
"We have to speak about these regulations and see what to do about it. There is more and more interest in this multi-club ownership. We shouldn't just say no for the investments for multi-club ownership, but we have to see what kind of rules we set in that case, because the rules have to be strict."
"From one point of view it’s true if you are the owner of two clubs and they play in the same competition you can say to one club to lose because you want the other to win," Ceferin added. "But for you, as a football player, do you think it’s so easy to do that, to tell a coach, lose the match because the other wants to win?"
The two main offers for United have come from owners that have links to France's top-flight. Sir Jim Ratcliffe, alongside his Ineos group, is the current owner of Nice and have placed a bid to buy the Red Devils, while Al-Thani is the other key bidder.
There is growing uncertainty about the bidding process at Old Trafford, however, after the Glazers supposedly extended the deadline for a United takeover until the end of May. This is after interested parties failed to meet the gigantic £6billion valuation.
It was previously outlined that the Glazers hoped to conclude before the end of the first quarter of the year or by the end of April, but the United hierarchy are waiting for a potential higher bid to sell the club.
Al-Thani and Ratcliffe are expected at Old Trafford in the coming weeks, though, for further talks after progressing to the next stage of the takeover process.
