The last three matches have somewhat distanced the hypothesis: after two draws and a loss, David Moyes’ Everton will definitely need to change gear in the final rush to hope for qualification for a European cup. Yet the Toffees are there, with 47 points, just two points behind seventh-placed Bournemouth at 49 – this year in the Premier League, the battle for the Europa League and the Conference is crowded and still involves seven teams. If the Liverpool blues manage to pull off the feat, returning to compete in the cups after eight seasons of drought, the troubles could ripple all the way to Trigoria. Because Roma is equally in the running for the same cups. And the financial group controlled by the Friedkin family, after purchasing the Giallorossi in 2020 and Cannes in France in 2023, has also controlled Everton since last year.
Thus we enter the maze of multiple ownerships: as Calcio & Finanzareminds us, Article 5 of the UEFA regulations on European cups prohibits participation in the same cup by two clubs belonging to the same ownership. A principle of absolute common sense, to ensure the proper conduct of the sporting competition and to avoid any favoritism for one of the involved teams at the right moment. And if UEFA’s financial control body registers a conflict of this type, one of the two teams qualified from their respective leagues must say goodbye to the Europe earned on the field – or settle for a relegation on paper: this is the case of Crystal Palace, this year forced to compete in the Conference instead of the Europa League because one step higher was Lyon, with part of the management in common.
And so, as the model of multiple ownerships takes off, the cases of potential conflict also increase. The BBC has compiled an updated list as of this spring: Everton and Roma are certainly part of it, as well as Chelsea and Strasbourg – with the fanbases of the two clubs, at the French initiative, increasingly on the warpath against the grievances of BlueCo – or Nottingham Forest and Olympiakos of the controversial Greek shipowner Evangelos Marinakis. There are also less conspicuous cases, or at least improbable given the different league standings: Leeds and Rangers, the trio composed of Brighton, Hearts, and Union Saint-Gilloise. All their boards, this season or in the next, will need to pay particular attention to avoid falling under the veto of the European Football Association.
What can clubs do to avoid this, should they qualify for the same cup? In the case of Everton and Roma, the Friedkin group claims to have devised a “structural solution” capable of passing UEFA’s checks. According to some sources close to the executives, it would not be a blind trust – the legal separation between managers and asset management to avoid conflicts of interest – but another type of stratagem yet to be revealed (in any case, the club executives would do well to have thought it through properly: UEFA’s deadline to comply was March 1st). So we will know more at the end of the season, also based on the verdicts of the Premier League and Serie A. In case of overlaps, who would take precedence? Simple: the team that finishes in the lower position in their league. And with Everton currently eleventh, it is already clear who Roma is rooting for.