Nation state funding of football clubs is "philosophically" a better fit than private equity funds, says ex-Liverpool chairman Sir Martin Broughton.
Bidders for Manchester United are still waiting to be told whether the Glazer family are willing to sell the club.
Billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe and a Qatari consortium have made offers, while involvement from private equity funds has also been suggested.
Broughton said: "Private equity is an unsuitable owner of sports' teams."
"The US doesn't let them buy any sports franchise," added British businessman Broughton, who was chairman at Liverpool in 2010 and also part of a consortium that tried to buy Chelsea last year.
"The standard operating procedure is buy with as little equity and as much leverage as possible, get your equity back as quickly as possible through dividends, then flip it as soon as there is a good profit.
"Nothing wrong with that process in other industries, but it is so far from what the fan wants.
"Football clubs are community entities. They are emotional assets. The fans want equity and no debt.
"Nation states are more appropriate. They take a longer-term view, tend to invest on higher equity, lower debt basis and don't have a need-to-sell time frame.
"People might not like the particular nation state, but philosophically, I have less concern with a nation state owning something than private equity."