British financial regulators gave the green light to US sports tycoon Malcolm Glazer's purchase of Manchester United, the world's richest football club.
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) said Friday it had decided not to refer Glazer's acquisition of the English Premiership team to the Competition Commission.
Glazer bought Manchester United through his Red Football takeover vehicle despite fierce opposition from the club's loyal fan base.
"Red Football and Manchester United do not compete with each other in the UK and the OFT has therefore concluded that there are no grounds for further competition law scrutiny of the acquisition," the OFT said in a statement.
The 76-year-old tycoon, who owns NFL franchise Tampa Bay Buccaneers, bought Man United for 790.3 million pounds (1.16 billion euros, 1.47 billion dollars) earlier this year following a protracted battle for control of the club."