The UK Government is not expected to use taxpayer money to pay for Manchester United to build a new stadium, i has been told.
Speaking publicly for the first time since purchasing a £1.2bn stake in the club, billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe insisted this week that "there has to be a conversation with the national government" about using taxpayer funds to build a venue that could also act as a national stadium for the north.
However, government sources have told i: "It's just not something we'd entertain. The Government doesn't tend to fund football stadiums. Where would it end?"
After taking over football operations of the club from the unpopular Glazer family, who remain majority owners, Ratcliffe is exploring options to deal with the club's ageing stadium.
Old Trafford, still the country's largest club stadium with a capacity of 74,000, is falling into disrepair and solutions include renovating it or building an entirely new venue on nearby land.
Renovation would cost about £800m and increase the capacity towards 90,000, whereas an entirely new venture would cost up to £2bn. Ratcliffe, 71, would prefer the latter option and made an impassioned plea that people who pay tax in the north deserve a stadium that can host England games and major finals.
"The people in the north pay their taxes like the people in the south pay their taxes," Ratcliffe, who was born in Greater Manchester but in 2020 officially relocated to taxfree Monaco, said. "But where's the national stadium for football? It'sin the south. Where's the national stadium for rugby? It's in the south. Where's the national stadium for tennis? It's in the south. Where's the national concert stadium? It's the O2, it's in the south. Where's the Olympic Village? It's in the south."
But a source maintained that "it would raise integrity issues" if the Government paid for it.
Comparisons have been drawn by some to the public purse being used to pay for Manchester City's stadium and the Olympic Stadium, now occupied by West Ham United. Manchester City Council sought to build a stadium to host the 2002 Commonwealth Games and agreed to collaborate with City, who paid around £14m of the £150m cost.
Last year, David Bernstein, City's chairman at the time, told i: "We did an amazing deal for the stadium. It was the greatest deal of its time in football. We managed to get Sport England and the City Council and others to virtually pay for the whole thing. They were desperate to get a proper stadium for Commonwealth Games."
Tax expert Dan Neidle told i he hoped Ratcliffe's idea was given short thrift by the Government. "It's very common in the US for sports teams to essentially blackmail local and state governments into paying for new facilities," he said. "Often they threaten to move if they don't get the money. That's never happened here - not least because Manchester United is not about to move to Liverpool. So I very much hope Ratcliffe is ignored."
Ratcliffe has also drawn criticism for asking for taxpayer money to build a stadium for a football club he bought his 28 per cent stake in via a company based in a tax haven.
Ratcliffe purchased his shares in Manchester United via
Trawlers Limited, which a United States Securities and Exchange Commission document describes as "a company limited by shares incorporated under the laws of the Isle of Man". It means Ratcliffe would pay no capital gains tax in the UK upon selling his shares.
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