No £1.6bn Windfall For United As Shiekh Rules Out Bid

The Qatar Investment Authority have not made a bid to buy Manchester United, according to their executive chairman.

United were granted permission last week to launch a floatation on the Singapore stock market, a move that saw a number of major investors linked with a move for the club. Qatar prime minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani was reported to have been in London last week to negotiate the £1.6bn purchase of the club.

However, Shiekh Hamad, who is of Qatari royalty and the QIA’s executive chairman, denied he has any interest of assuming control of the Premier League club.

“That’s not true,” said Sheikh Hamad in an interview on the Qatar-owned Al Jazeera channel.

“We announced a few weeks ago that we did not negotiate that. A lot of people talk about ‘Qatar now will buy this, they will pay that.’ This also makes the price good for anything that will be sold.”

Submitted by Football Friends