UK government officials have privately flagged concerns about Manchester United Plc bidder Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani, according to people familiar with the matter.
(Bloomberg) — UK government officials have privately flagged concerns about Manchester United Plc bidder Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani, according to people familiar with the matter.
The reservations, voiced internally over the past few weeks by senior government officials working on football governance, have focused on previous regulatory failings at the UK unit of the Qatar Islamic Bank, where Sheikh Jassim has been chairman since 2006, according to the people who declined to comment discussing internal matters.
While there’s no suggestion that the UK is set to intervene to block Sheikh Jassim’s bid, the concerns by the UK government suggest ministers may put pressure on the Premier League to pose its own questions when it conducts its due diligence on Man United’s suitors.
Spokespeople for Sheikh Jassim and the UK government’s Department of Culture, Media and Sport declined to comment.
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The reservations by officials relate to Sheikh Jassim’s management of QIB, centering on a £1.4 million fine imposed on the UK unit in 2016 by the Bank of England for violating capital requirements that left the firm exposed to high levels of risk.
Andrew Bailey, then CEO of the Prudential Regulation Authority and now the BOE governor, said at the time that QIB had “failed to meet some of the most basic regulatory standards.”
The QIB said at the time of the fine that the bank has taken “remedial action,” while the BOE said the bank had since undergone significant restructuring to stop similar breaches. QIB is not understood to play any direct role in the current bid for Manchester United.
The government is currently treading a fine line to balance its stated desire to make Britain a destination for foreign investment, while also considering the need to protect football clubs from owners who might pose a risk to the stable running of a club.
The UK has faced continued criticism over the governance of its sporting assets, and recently unveiled major reforms to the country’s top five football leagues, with an independent regulator focused on financial security, tougher ownership criteria and rules to stop teams joining breakaway competitions.
Although in dramatically different circumstances, the UK played a key role in the controversial forced sale of Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea FC a year ago, only approving the deal after being satisfied a sale didn’t benefit any sanctioned individuals.
Sheikh Jassim, a son of former Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, and a member of the gulf state’s royal family, heads a consortium that some see as the leading bid for Manchester United. Its offer could value the club, currently owned by the US Glazer family, at about £5 billion.
British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe is the main rival to the Qatari bid, while Elliott Investment Management LP, the private equity firm, submitted a bid for a small stake in Manchester United. The bidders are currently waiting for Raine Group — the investment bank in charge of the sale process — on the next steps of the deal process.
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