UEFA Relaxes Multi-Club Regulations for Upcoming Season
European football’s governing body UEFA has made significant changes to its rules on multi-club ownership groups. These changes come ahead of the upcoming season’s alterations to its club competitions. From the 2024-25 campaign, clubs under common ownership that are prevented from playing in the same UEFA club competition will now be allowed to participate in different UEFA competitions.
For instance, if one of Manchester United or Nice, both under the control of Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS, qualifies for the Champions League, the other club can play in the Europa League or Conference League. This new rule also applies to other ownership groups such as City Football Group’s Manchester City and Girona, Red Bull’s Leipzig and Salzburg teams, or Qatar Sports Investment’s Paris Saint-Germain and Braga.
The changes to UEFA’s competition regulations can be found in articles 5.04 and 5.05, which will be effective from 1 May. Previously, clubs that were under the control of an investor or group that also controlled another qualified team were simply replaced by the next team from their domestic competition. However, under the new provisions of Article 5.04, a replaced club may still be admitted to another UEFA club competition to which their national association has access.
This means that the list of qualified clubs for the relevant national association would need to be adjusted accordingly, with the relevant cap for that association still being applied. For England and the top four nations, this means a total of seven places. However, any nation can earn additional spots if one of its teams wins one of the three UEFA competitions but finishes outside the qualification places in their domestic league.
The loosening of UEFA’s rules on multi-club ownership is a significant development. With the number of clubs under common ownership increasing each season, there are obvious integrity risks. This is particularly true as the three men’s competitions are moving to single-table formats and expanding to 36 teams each. This means that the previously rare issue of clubs under common ownership being blocked from competing in Europe is likely to occur more frequently.
Last summer, Aston Villa, Brighton & Hove Albion, and Toulouse were only allowed to participate in this season’s European competitions when their owners distanced themselves from Vitoria de Guimaraes, Union Saint-Gilloise, and AC Milan respectively. Villa and Brighton had to reduce their stakes in their stablemates to below 30%, while Toulouse benefited from Milan’s majority owner Gerry Cardinale resigning from their board.
All three pairs of clubs were also banned from transferring players to each other, entering into commercial joint ventures, or sharing scouting data for the season. UEFA has been dealing with this issue since the late 1990s when English investment firm ENIC owned stakes in multiple clubs across the continent. The drafting of Article 5 in 2001 established the concept that “control or influence” over more than one team would not be allowed.
While UEFA has been able to handle each case on its merits so far, the current increase in the number of multi-club ownership groups presents a challenge. Both UEFA and FIFA cannot ignore the issues arising from this explosion in ownership groups. It remains to be seen whether UEFA will be able to handle the sheer number of cases likely to arise each year going forward.
In conclusion, UEFA’s relaxation of multi-club ownership regulations marks a significant shift in the organization’s approach. The changes will enable clubs under common ownership to participate in different UEFA competitions, ensuring a fairer playing field. However, concerns around integrity risks and the growing number of multi-club ownership groups still remain. Only time will tell how UEFA handles these challenges in the future.