90min

Sheikh Jassim sends legal letters to Man Utd over 'defamatory' jibes from Sir Jim Ratcliffe

  • Sir Jim Ratcliffe beat Sheikh Jassim in race to purchase stake in Man Utd
  • INEOS chief recently suggested Qatari banker wasn't real and couldn't provide proof of funds
  • Sheikh Jassim's legal team have written to Man Utd

By Sean Walsh

Sheikh Jassim has not been impressed
Sheikh Jassim has not been impressed / James Baylis - AMA/GettyImages
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Lawyers representing Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani have 'sent legal letters' to Manchester United regarding recent comments made by the club's minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

Ratcliffe beat off competition from Sheikh Jassim to purchase a 28% stake in United, completing his onboarding to the club in February.

During one of his first interviews with the media after officially joining United, Ratcliffe joked Sheikh Jassim might not even be a real person due to his low profile all throughout the takeover saga.

"Still nobody's ever seen him, actually," he said of Sheikh Jassim. "The Glazers never met him...he never...I'm not sure he exists!"

Sir Jim Ratcliffe
Ratcliffe was hardly complimentary about Sheikh Jassim / Eric Alonso/GettyImages

Ratcliffe also confirmed inferences made in the club's United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings that Sheilh Jassim could not produce proof of funds and exaggerated the size of his offer.

The Athletic report the legal representatives of Sheikh Jassim and his Nine Two Foundation used to table offers to United have written to the club to complain of 'a pattern of demonstrably false and defamatory' made by Ratcliffe. They also want corrections made to the club's SEC filings.

Though Sheikh Jassim and the Qatari camp believe they had achieved preferred bidder status at some point in 2023 after submitting a fifth offer worth up to $7bn, this was never confirmed by anyone at United in writing and their SEC filings corroborate that they never received any financial assurances and commitments from them.

Meanwhile, Raine Group - United's financial advisors throughout the takeover saga - confirmed to The Times in February that Sheikh Jassim was indeed real despite Ratcliffe's suggestions.

Raine Group's co-founder Joe Ravitch said: "We met Jassim. He was in New York. He's a lovely guy; a very smart guy. The Qataris were very real. They were very smart guys, very thoughtful. I don't know why they didn't appreciate the value (of the club) but we were not their adviser.

"We tried as the seller to explain the value to them, and they put what they thought was a series of very serious bids on the table."

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