Manchester City and Manchester United given green light to play in Europe with sister clubs Girona and Nice

UEFA has given Manchester United and Manchester City permission to play alongside their sister clubs in Europe next season.

He Red Devils It will compete in the Europa League next season, with Ligue 1 side Nice also set to qualify for Europe's second-tier competition.

But there was a fear of conflict of interests with United's new shareholder – Mr. Jim Ratcliffe – Also owner of the French side.

The same goes for the The citizens – owned by the City Football Group, which also oversees the fortunes of Spanish club Girona.

After an impressive 2023/24 season, Girona have qualified for the Champions League, where they could face City following their success in the Premier League.

After fears that the multi-club ownership rule could restrict one of the clubs from competing in Europe, UEFA has now allowed them to do so.

in a statementUEFA revealed that investors in the affected clubs had implemented “significant changes”, which were approved by UEFA's Club Financial Control Body.

They also stressed: “No one is simultaneously involved, directly or indirectly, in any capacity, in the management, administration and/or sporting performance of more than one club participating in a UEFA club competition.”

Before adding: “No one has control or decisive influence over more than one club participating in a UEFA club competition.”

The statement continued: “More specifically, the significant changes made to the ownership, governance and financial support of the clubs in question substantially restrict the influence and decision-making power of investors over more than one club, thereby ensuring compliance with the multi-club ownership rule for the 2024/25 season.

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“In particular, the affected investors have transferred their shares in Girona FC and OGC Nice to independent trustees through a blind trust structure established under the supervision of the First Chamber of the CFCB.”

And in a bid to show that the clubs are independent of each other, they are not allowed to be directly involved in any type of transfer (loan or permanent) from July 2024 until September.

This will all but rule out Nice defender Jean-Clair Todibo joining Manchester United this summer.

The clubs have also been banned from concluding “any kind of cooperation or joint technical or commercial agreements between them.”

UEFA has also made it clear that control and decision-making over Nice and Girona rests “exclusively under the control of the trustee”.

It has also been stated that the investors “have no ability to influence decisions relating to sport” and “have no ability to influence the club through veto rights or contractual agreements”.

Most importantly, once the 2024/25 season is over, which will start in July 2025, the shares in Nice and Girona will be transferred back to their respective investors by the independent trustees.

UEFA has also told United and City that they will be monitored throughout the upcoming campaign to ensure they comply with all rules.