Girona are the shock story of La Liga in the 2023/24 season, but can the title hopefuls play in the Champions League if they qualify for Europe’s premier competition?
Catalonian side Girona have been the most over-performing side in all of Europe this season with their remarkable start to the campaign.
With 26 matches gone, they sit second in the La Liga table, six points behind league leaders Real Madrid, having lost just three times this season
Two of those defeats came at the hands of Los Blancos but otherwise they have beaten Barcelona and Atletico Madrid already in their unlikely bid for the title in just their fourth top flight season.
Even if Michel’s side eventually fade away against the might of Madrid and Barcelona, they are still in a very strong position to qualify for European football, even the Champions League.
However, the story isn’t quite the rags to riches fairytale it may appear as Girona is part-owned by the City Football Group, making it a sister club of treble champions Manchester City.
CFG is part of an investment portfolio for the Abu Dhabi United Group which, since its inception in 2014, has worked to acquire clubs in every continent.
As well as City and Girona, New York City, Melbourne City, Yokohama F. Marinos, Motevideo City Torque, Sichuan Jiuniu, Mumbai City, Lommel, Troyes, Palermo and Bahia are all in the group.
CFG owns a 47 per cent stake in Girona and the partnership allows for the two clubs to enjoy ‘shared assets’ including player loans and financial support.
However, this is partnership does raise the question of a conflict of interest should the two sides qualify for the same competition, such as the Champions League.
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Can Girona play in the Champions League if they qualify?
Luckily for Girona, it does appear that they would be able to play in the Champions League if they qualify even if City are in the competition as well.
Though the two clubs are in a partnership, CFG only owns 47 per cent of the club’s shares which makes it a non-majority stake and thus they are not in complete control of the club.
UEFA’s rules currently only centre on clubs who have the same majority owner or ownership group.
Girona applied for a UEFA license to compete in European competitions last season when they appeared likely to earn a Europa Conference League Spot. Though they eventually missed out, they were granted permission to play in Europe by UEFA despite their links with City.
Multi-club ownership is continuing to grow in popularity with CFG far from the only organisation with at least two clubs under its umbrella.
Speaking on the trend in March, 2023, UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin was not against the idea but did concede strict rules would have to be followed.
“There is more and more interest for this multi-club ownership and we shouldn’t just say no [to] the investments, and for multi-club ownership,” Ceferin said.
“But we have to see what kind of rules we set in that case, because the rules have to be strict.”
