Qatar’s first venture into football came over a decade ago when they acquired a majority stake in Paris Saint-Germain in 2011. Months later, they became sole owners.
Paris Saint-Germain are state-owned but Qatar Sports Investment is the entity credited with taking the club to the pinnacle of football.
Since that historic deal was made, PSG have become trendsetters in a number of areas on and off the pitch. Off it, you are unlikely to read anything about their owners unless you go looking for it. QSI’s objective was to create the next ‘superclub’ and over a decade later, you must concede that they have been successful.
Now, after 18 years of being majority shareholders of Manchester United, the Glazer family are finally cashing out on their investment and have invited interested parties to table their bids for a minority or full sale.
A number of consortiums are said to be interested but Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the boyhood United fan, and Qatar are the only ones to have made their intentions public.
Ratcliffe’s bid comes through INEOS, the petrochemicals company which the 70-year-old chairs. Financially, he will involve JPMorgan Chase & Co and Goldman Sachs. The former was a central cog in the disgraced launch of the European Super League in 2021.
Qatar’s offer is not dependent on loans our outside investment but comes via Qatar Investment Authority, a separate entity from QSI and would enable the state to own two clubs competing in the same competition.
The same owners were pivotal in helping Qatar win their bid to host the 2022 World Cup and that was the trigger – the virtual tree-huggers were out of the woodworks.
The idea that a country has beliefs that are not adapted to the latest digital generation is completely unfathomable in Europe, but specifically the west.
Every little detail of what made Qatar the country it is was under scrutiny and placed under the microscope – an unstoppable God complex swept the world of journalism and virtue-signalling reached an all-time high.
But still, it was not deemed out of touch to criticise Qatar for not abiding by the countless social laws created by entitled Westerners over the last 15 years.
As someone with a Middle-Eastern background and a lifelong resident in Europe, differences in culture cannot be compared and you would be forgiven for thinking that Europe are the winners here. In reality, they could learn a thing or five from the country they were desperate to put down.
Qatar’s interest in acquiring the biggest club in England is not a surprise and there are not many ethical flaws to it all either – at least not when they are compared to Ratcliffe, their biggest rival.
Qatar, like the rest of the Middle East, have a rich footballing culture and are deeply invested in the sport. Their past endeavours also prove their ambition – they are not in it for financial gain.
They know what they are doing and if Manchester United end up under their stewardship, they will develop, on all levels, at a frightening pace. At the end of the day, that’s all you want as a supporter.