UEFA announced on Friday that Girona and Nice could now play the Manchester teams in the Champions League and Europa League due to “significant changes” in their ownership arrangements.
Manchester United and Manchester City will be eligible to play Nice and Girona in Europe the following season after UEFA’s requirements for multi-club ownership were satisfied.
UEFA announced on Friday that Girona and Nice could now play the Manchester teams in the Champions League and Europa League due to “significant changes” in their ownership structures.
Nice’s principal owner is Ineos, which has been in charge of United’s football operations since earlier this year. Girona and City are members of the City Football Group.
According to UEFA, independent trustees now hold CFG’s shares in Girona and Ineos’s shares in Nice through a “blind trust” arrangement.
UEFA declared in May that blind trust arrangements would be permitted under special circumstances for the next season only.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the founder of Ineos and co-owner of United, stated last month that Ineos does not plan to sell its Nice stake, but it will use a blind trust to comply with the regulations for the upcoming season.
Additionally, according to UEFA, the clubs had decided not to move players between them until September 2025, either permanently or on loan, directly or indirectly.
Deals reached before the Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) of UEFA initiates legal action against the clubs will be the lone exception.
The clubs also decided not to employ any shared player databases or scouting efforts, nor to enter into any cooperative technical or commercial arrangements.
On July 1 of the following year, the shares will return to the City Football Group and Ineos, according to UEFA.
Girona declared earlier this week that board members Ingo Bank, John MacBeath, and Simon Cliff had resigned. The replacements chosen were Matthew Shayle, Edward Hall, and Paul Hunston, three partners in the UK legal firm Wiggin Osborne Fullerlove.
