Premier League ends agreement with PR company advising Qatari bid for Manchester United

The Premier League has cut ties with Hanover Communications — a PR firm working on behalf of the Qatari consortium trying to buy Manchester United.

Two of the bidders involved in a potential takeover of Manchester United issued public statement.

Of course, there is plenty of reason to believe neither statement was written by Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani or Sir Jim Ratcliffe – but crafted carefully by PR firms looking to provide the lines to suit their client.

According to The Athletic, the Premier League has mutually agreed to discontinue its relationship with Hanover Communications.

Kate Burlaga reports: “Hanover is understood to have alerted the Premier League to its involvement with the Sheikh Jassim bid ahead of that becoming public on Friday evening. Ties were cut following subsequent conversations, with the split amicable.”

The INEOS statement came on Saturday morning, but the Qatari statement was made public on Friday night along with the bid. The Times has claimed that bidders have been told to stop running public campaigns which could damage the Glazer family, if they weren’t damaged enough as it is…

I am immediately interested to see how the bidders react to what appears to be slap on the wrist from the Glazer family. Is it possible that raising tensions with the Glazers could risk giving an opposing candidate an advantage in phase two of the bidding process? Only time will tell.

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