After 17 years of ownership, the Glazers decided to sell Manchester United, and last Friday night they closed the door for bids, as Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani entered into competition with British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, amid expectations that the deal would break the record for selling Gym, amounting to regarding $6.4 billion.
Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), ranked third in the list of the 30 best companies in Qatar, according to Forbes Middle East magazine. He was born in 1982, and his father is Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr Al Thani, Chairman Ministers of Qatar in the period from 2007 to 2013.
Qatar Islamic Bank is one of the leading banks in the country, and the sovereign wealth fund and the Qatar Investment Authority, which owns the Qatar Sports Investment Company, which has acquired the French club Paris Saint-Germain since 2011, contribute to it.
Some saw that the decision of Sheikh Jassim, who was educated at the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst in the United Kingdom, where he graduated as a trainee officer, is only a front for Qatar Sports Investments Company, as the law does not allow one ownership and conflict of interest between two clubs competing in one competition.
Sheikh Jassim, who participates in the management of Paris Saint-Germain, promised to “restore the English club to its former glories”, following its absence from the league title for ten years, to end its debts amounting to 580 million euros, and to focus on football teams and rehabilitate the training center, stadium and infrastructure.