Manchester United Muslim supporters call for Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Glazers to leave
Manchester United Muslim Supporters Club said on Saturday that co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe "must go" after his remarks in a BBC interview in which he blamed high immigration and taxes and said the country was "on the slide". The supporters' group concluded: "The Glazers and Sir Jim Ratcliffe must go."
Ratcliffe, the billionaire founder of petrochemical group Ineos, acquired a 27.7% stake in Manchester United in 2024 and made the comments in a BBC interview broadcast on Saturday. He said the UK was in decline because of a combination of high taxes and high immigration and has previously apologised for "offending some people" after earlier comments that the UK had been "colonised by immigrants". Manchester United responded in February by saying the club "prides itself" on being "inclusive", while BBC Sport cited a source familiar with the Glazer family as saying the majority shareholders were "horrified" by his initial remarks and saw them as showing "disregard for their ownership".
In a statement of no confidence issued on Saturday, MUMSC said: "We condemned those comments then," adding: "He [Ratcliffe] subsequently apologised for his choice of language. We hoped a lesson had been learned. Clearly, it has not." The group said "this week, Sir Jim has again placed immigration and people receiving benefits at the centre of his explanation for Britain's problems, arguing that nobody is 'tough enough' to deal with either." It concluded that "We find these latest comments deeply disappointing and completely unacceptable."
MUMSC pointed to the club's multicultural makeup, saying "players, staff, stewards, security teams and supporters come from different countries, cultures, ethnicities, religions and backgrounds" and adding: "Manchester United would not be Manchester United without them. That diversity isn't a weakness of Manchester United. It is part of Manchester United." The supporters' club also called on the Glazer family to go and said members had hoped Ratcliffe's arrival "would finally signal meaningful change" after the Glazers had "presided over Manchester United's decline."
The group listed off-field concerns that "now extend beyond the pitch", citing "higher ticket prices" and "a stadium allowed to deteriorate", together with "a football team that continues to fall further behind where Manchester United should be." MUMSC's statement concluded with the call for a change of ownership and leadership at the club.
Ratcliffe campaigned for a Leave vote in the 2016 European Union referendum and has been a tax resident in Monaco since 2020. Since acquiring his 27.7% stake in 2024 he has overseen a restructuring of the organisation that included 450 redundancies, an overhaul of senior management and the sacking of two managers.
Manchester United entered the weekend sitting 13th in the Premier League after gaining four points from their first four Premier League games, and they were knocked out of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday with a 3-2 home defeat by Brighton.
