Manchester United will oppose Avram Grant being granted
dispensation to manage Chelsea without a Uefa pro licence, BBC
Sport understands.
Grant does not have the required licence and has a 12-week period
of grace to acquire the qualification.
If he does not Chelsea will have to appeal to the Premier League
for special dispensation or replace Grant.
United would oppose any dispensation request, as they did with
Glenn Roeder and Gareth Southgate.
Roeder received an extension on health grounds when he took over at
Newcastle, while Southgate was deemed to have had restricted
opportunities to gain a licence because of his international career
after succeeding Steve McClaren at Middlesbrough.
Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill was also granted an exemption
after undergoing a five-day refresher course.
United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, who is exempted from having a pro
licence because he was already managing in the top flight when the
rule was introduced, is understood to be a strong advocate of the
qualifications.
Uefa and Premier League rules require anyone wishing to manage in
the top flight to hold the Uefa pro licence, which requires 240
hours of study and usually takes a year to gain.
And a Premier League spokesman confirmed: "We have written to
Chelsea to remind them of these requirements regarding these
qualifications. "
Southgate, now in his second season at Boro, said of Grant's
situation: "Most of the older coaches were given special
dispensation when the rules were first introduced.
"I'm sure Avram has nothing to worry about because he has the
backing of his chairman Roman Abramovich."
Grant, who won league titles when coaching in Israel, has not held
a club manager's position for five years although he was in charge
of the Israeli national side during the qualifying campaigns for
Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup finals.
He also holds coaching qualifications from Israel but Uefa is yet
to rule on whether it is of an equivalent standing to the pro
licence.
