49ers set three-month deadline by UEFA to avoid messy Rangers situation
49ers Enterprises’ ownership of both Rangers and Leeds United could lead to an unwanted headache sooner than expected.
The 49ers are part of a consortium, led by Andrew Cavenagh, that acquired a 51 per cent rolling stake in Rangers in June this year.
Questions were immediately raised over the 49ers’ involvement with both Rangers and Leeds, with Paraag Marathe having a hands-on role at Elland Road and Ibrox.
Given the two sides play in different countries, it means any sort of collision course for the time being has been avoided.
However, that is not to say they will not be in the same competition down the line, potentially causing an issue with UEFA.
UEFA clarify multi-club ownership rules
As Crystal Palace learned the hard way recently, having figures in charge across multiple clubs is not something UEFA look upon favourably.
Palace qualified for the Europa League, but were banned from competing due to John Textor owning a stake at the time in both the Eagles and Lyon, who also qualified for UEFA’s secondary competition.
Lyon instead got the nod to compete due to finishing higher in Ligue 1 than Palace did in the Premier League, meaning the Eagles had to drop into the Conference League.
That same scenario could yet play out with Rangers and Leeds. While it is fanciful to suggest Leeds will qualify for Europe via the Premier League, winning the FA Cup also offers a route into the Europa League.
If that were to happen, and Rangers end up in that competition again next season, UEFA would step in and prevent one of them from doing so.
This is not new information, of course, but what is is that the governing body have now set a deadline of 1 March to fill out the relevant paperwork.
Clubs had previously been given until June to do so, but it must now be done well before the season ends.
That means the 49ers cannot just fulfil the relevant checks if and when this scenario plays out, but rather in advance of it ever happening.
What must 49ers do to avoid Rangers and Leeds collision course?
It would be easy to write off a scenario in which both Leeds and Rangers qualify for the same competition, say the Europa League, but the same was true of Palace and Lyon 12 months ago.
There is simply no need to take any risks, so the 49ers are believed to have a couple of different options available to them.
Major Rangers shareholders:
- Rangers FC LLC (including Andrew Cavenagh, 49ers Enterprises and others in the consortium)
- Douglas Park
- George Alexander Taylor
- Perron Investments LLC (John Halsted has stated that he is the beneficial owner of the shares held)
Firstly, they could dilute their control in one of the clubs, or instead adopt what is called a ‘blind trust’ structure.
49ers chiefs are taking more and more control of Rangers on the face of it, and long may that continue.
But for the sake of an awkward situation come next summer, it is important they do what is needed over at Leeds to avoid any sort of UEFA intervention at Ibrox.
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