INEOS respond to fears Manchester United could be banned from Europa League next season

INEOS are convinced Manchester United and Nice will be allowed to play in the Europa League next season.

United finished eighth in the Premier League and failed to qualify for Europe via the division's qualifying places, but Erik ten Hag's side won the FA Cup on Saturday afternoon.

The winner of the FA Cup, England's oldest cup competition, is granted Europa League qualification, which means United have booked their place in Europe's secondary club competition.

The Reds won the Europa League with Jose Mourinho in charge in 2017 and lost in the final of the competition against Villarreal in 2021 during Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's tenure.

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Throughout the season, there were fears United could potentially be barred from competing in the Europa League if French side Nice also qualified for the competition.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe bought Nice in 2019 and UEFA regulations state clubs that are owned by the same owners will not be allowed to compete in the same UEFA competitions.

Nice have qualified for the second-tier European competition by finishing fifth in Ligue 1 and, ordinarily, UEFA rules would see United demoted to the UEFA Conference League, the third-tier competition, because the French club finished higher in their respective league.

However, it's understood United have held talks with UEFA officials since Ratcliffe's investment was signed off and he received assurances that the issue could be resolved.

INEOS issued a statement and said: “We are aware of the position of the two clubs and we are in direct dialogue with UEFA. We are convinced that we have a solution for next season in Europe."

Although Ratcliffe owns 27.7 per cent of United, his planned further investment would take their ownership stake above the 30 per cent threshold for multi-club ownership rules to apply.

United securing Europa League qualification by winning the FA Cup is a huge boost, as missing out on Europe would have caused a significant loss of revenue.

United have regularly insisted they will work within Financial Fair Play constraints and the absence of European TV revenue would have impacted transfer activity.