SOCCER:MANCHESTER UNITED have insisted that the club is not for sale despite reports that the Qatari royal family plan to make an offer of around €1.76bn to buy out the Glazer family.
A statement published in its quarterly results yesterday said: ‘The board notes recent press speculation regarding a possible bid for Manchester United. The owners remain fully committed to their long-term ownership of the club. No discussions have taken place, Manchester United is not for sale and the owners will not entertain any offers.‘
The quarterly figures, for the three months up to the end of last December, reveal that while match day turnover has dipped from €61.6m to €61.4m, commercial revenue rose by 30.2 per cent from €43.6m in 2009 to €59m, due to the new deal with Aon. This helped raise overall revenue from €169m to €183m.
The Glazer family issued a similar statement to bondholders in May following a season when some of the club’s supporters began a concerted campaign to force them out.
The Glazers, who also own the National Football League’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers, stoked anger among supporters by loading debt on to the English club to help pay for the purchase.
Debts associated with the takeover, which were once as high as €996m, have fallen to €573m, according to the figures released yesterday. In November the owners paid off €258m of payment-in-kind loans that accrued interest of 16.25 per cent.
