Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani has been congratulated on his alleged takeover of Manchester United – despite no official announcement being made.
The Premier League giants are yet to confirm who their new principal owner will be, with current chiefs the Glazer family set to decide on a preferred bidder this week. Sheikh Jassim, an uber-wealthy Qatari banker, has been competing with INEOS chief executive Sir Jim Ratcliffe for the best part of eight months in the battle to buy United.
The Mirror reported on Tuesday that the head of a Qatari media outlet that sparked speculation that Sheikh Jassim had completed the takeover of Manchester United has rowed back on the claim.
It will be recalled that late on Monday night, Al-Watan, a Qatari media outlet, had announced that Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani had won the race against Sir Jim Ratcliffe to take over Manchester United and that the Qatari banker has received the blessing of the Glazer family to buy 100% of the club.
Immediately Man United fans who are opposed to the current ownership that has become increasingly unpopular, reacted with excitement on social media to the news as many stated that it was timely to enable the club to do well in the transfer window.
The news also caused an increase in Manchester United share prices on the New York stock exchange as the market expected the takeover announcement to be confirmed.
United’s share price stands at $22.37 which is a raise of 11.4 percent over the past 24 hours, which is the highest it has been since April.
But with the clarifications issued by the Editorial Director of Al Watan, it seems that all the glee and excitement was all for nothing.
Al Watan’s Fahed Al Emadi in his latest tweet stated: “Contrary to certain media and social media reports overnight, Al Watan is not owned by Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, and Al Watan’s media report yesterday speculating about possible movement in the Manchester United take over process was based on international media reports, as stated in the article itself, and with such news widely circulating periodically in international media for many months.”
The recent report is a change from his original position on Monday night where He tweeted: “All the news received indicates the success of Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad bin Jassim’s acquisition of Manchester United, and the announcement of the deal will be very soon.” – This was confirmed in categorical terms by the outlet’s official account.”
The initial reports were given relevance due to suggestions that Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani who is Sheikh Jassim’s father and the former Prime Minister of Qatar owned shares in Al Watan, hence giving them direct access to information about the takeover.
Sheikh Jassim on Friday submitted his final take-or-leave bid for Manchester United, five months after the first bid was submitted, and though media outlets report that his bid which is said to be worth over $ 5 billion is favoured to that of his rival Sir Jim Ratcliffe, founder of chemicals Producer INEOS, nothing has been confirmed by the Glazers or Manchester United spokespersons.
Sheikh Jassim’s bid for Manchester United comes as GCC investors are significantly expanding their interest in football. GCC wealth funds or their subsidiaries now own five clubs, including Manchester City, whose owners have transformed into City Football Group.
Manchester United finished third in the Premier League in the 2022/23 season and was defeated 2-1 by Manchester City in the Emirates FA Cup final. The club holds the record for the most Premier League titles with 13 wins.
