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.
