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The race is on to buy one of the world’s biggest football clubs, Manchester United.
Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani, the chairman of Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), was the first to announce a bid – in a deal which could top £6bn.
British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s firm INEOS is also in the running to purchase the club from the current owners, the Glazer family.
Here, Sky News looks at the runners and riders in the race.
Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani – Nine Two Foundation
Sheikh Jassim is an investment banker and chairman of Doha-based QIB, one of Qatar’s leading banks.
His father, Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, served as foreign minister of Qatar throughout the 1990s and 2000s before becoming prime minister in April 2007 until June 2013.
Sheikh Jassim was educated at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, where he graduated as an officer cadet and where he reportedly fell in love with Manchester United.
His Nine Two Foundation, a new financial entity set up to privately fund the bid for the club, is said to be a nod to the Class of 92 who were an integral part of Sir Alex Ferguson’s side, which delivered two Champions League crowns as well as dominating domestic football.
Sheikh Jassim has promised his offer would leave United debt-free.
This would be in contrast to the Glazer family’s controversial debt-leveraged buy-out of the club in 2005.
But the takeover could prove controversial in other ways, with human rights group FairSquare calling for European footballing body UEFA to block the move.
Qatar has been criticised by human rights groups in recent years, particularly around LGBT rights and the death of migrant workers building stadiums for last year’s World Cup.
Its successful bid for the competition was also at the centre of allegations of bribery involving FIFA – allegations it has always denied.
SNTVSheikh Jassim’s Nine Two Foundation is being positioned as a separate entity to the Qatar state and its investments.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe – INEOS
A lifelong Manchester United fan, Sir Jim Ratcliffe has never made any secret of his desire to buy the club he has supported since he was a young boy.
Now the head of the chemicals firm INEOS, he is one of the richest men in Britain with an estimated personal wealth of more than £6bn as of last year, according to the Sunday Times Rich List.
His company is worth an estimated £50bn ($61bn).
A source described Sir Jim’s bid as a “British bid to make the club a beacon for a modern, progressive, fan-centred approach to ownership”.
Sir Jim, 70, also recently entered the race to sign Premier League rivals Chelsea, tabling a £4.25bn offer for the London side, but ultimately lost out to a consortium led by LA Dodgers owner Todd Boehly.
If he managed to see off Qatari competition this time around, it will expand his growing sporting empire.
The entrepreneur owns cycling team Ineos Grenadiers, Ligue 1 side Nice, who he took over in 2019, and FC Lausanne-Sport, a Swiss Super League club.
He is likely to receive the support of fans in his bid, owing to his roots in Greater Manchester, where he grew up on a council estate, the son of a joiner father and an officer-worker mother.
Though praised as a British success story, Sir Jim has also faced criticism over his decision to change his tax domicile from Hampshire to tax-haven Monaco in September 2020.
Josh Harris and David Blitzer
Though they are yet to confirm any bid, American businessmen Josh Harris and David Blitzer are thought to be considering an offer for United.
The pair, who founded US firm Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, were last month reported to be weighing up a deal for a minority stake in the club, according to the Mail on Sunday.
Such a deal would leave the Glazer family a stake in the club, something that could risk the ire of United fans, who have taken part in multiple protests against their ownership of the club over the last 17 years.
The American duo, who have stakes in a number of US sports teams, also both own an 18% share of Premier League side Crystal Palace, which they would likely have to divest if they were successful in a bid for United.
They are also said to be considering a bid for Liverpool, having been unsuccessful in their attempts to buy Chelsea from Roman Abramovich.
The pair backed a bid for Chelsea by Sir Martin Broughton, the former Liverpool and British Airways chairman, but lost out to Boehly’s Clearlake Capital consortium.
Saudi Arabia
Again, no official bid has been announced by any Saudi-led consortiums.
However, it is understood that groups from the country have signed a confidential agreement which allows them to look at United’s finances in order for them to assess whether to make a bid, according to the Daily Mail.
A Saudi-led consortium completed a £300m takeover of Newcastle back in October 2021, despite opposition from human rights groups who have raised concerns about potential links to the Saudi regime.
The Premier League said at the time of the takeover that it had received “legally binding assurances” that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will not control Newcastle United.