Man Utd could be banned from playing in Europa League

Manchester United’s participation in the Europa League next season is doubtful, despite their FA Cup final win over Manchester City.

The 2-1 win at Wembley, means Erik ten Hag’s men will play in the competition along with Tottenham Hotspur.

However, they could be kicked out from the Europa, due to INEOS’ ownership of French club Nice.

UEFA’s multi-club ownership rules prohibit two teams owned by the same organisation competing in the same tournament.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS has a 27% stake in United, but is planning to invest a further £245m, which would take their ownership stake in the club to more than 30%, which is above the threshold for UEFA’s multi-club ownership rules while being the sole owners of Ligue 1 side Nice.

Nice finished fifth in the French top-flight to secure a place in next season’s Europa League.

Should INEOS fail to resolve the issue, one of their clubs could be relegated to the UEFA Conference League.

Nice would maintain their Europa League status, because of their higher league finish of fifth, compared to United’s eighth-placed finish.