'The Glazers and Sir Jim Ratcliffe must go': Man Utd Muslim fan group issues no-confidence statement after immigration remarks
The Manchester United Muslim Supporters Club (MUMSC) has issued a statement of no confidence in the club's ownership, saying co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe "must go" after he again spoke out against immigration levels and claimed the country was "on the slide".
Billionaire Ratcliffe, founder of petrochemical giant Ineos and one of Britain's richest people, made the comments in an interview with the BBC on Saturday. He said the UK was in decline because of a combination of high taxes and high immigration, arguing that nobody is "tough enough" to deal with either issue.
It is not the first time Ratcliffe has sparked controversy with his language. In February, he said the UK had been "colonised by immigrants", before later apologising for "offending some people". At the time, Manchester United responded 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".
"We condemned those comments then," MUMSC said in its statement on Saturday. "He subsequently apologised for his choice of language. We hoped a lesson had been learned. Clearly, it has not."
"This week, Sir Jim has again placed immigration and people receiving benefits at the centre of his explanation for Britain's problems. We find these latest comments deeply disappointing and completely unacceptable."
'That diversity isn't a weakness — it is part of Manchester United'
MUMSC highlighted that United's "players, staff, stewards, security teams and supporters come from different countries, cultures, ethnicities, religions and backgrounds".
"Manchester United would not be Manchester United without them," the group added. "That diversity isn't a weakness of Manchester United. It is part of Manchester United."
Ratcliffe, who campaigned for a Leave vote in the 2016 EU referendum and has been a tax resident in Monaco since 2020, acquired a 27.7% stake in Manchester United in 2024. Since then he has restructured the organisation, overseeing 450 redundancies, overhauling senior management and sacking two managers.
Grievances extend beyond the pitch
MUMSC said its members had hoped Ratcliffe's arrival "would finally signal meaningful change" after the Glazer family had "presided over Manchester United's decline". But the group pointed to "higher ticket prices", "a stadium allowed to deteriorate" and "a football team that continues to fall further behind where Manchester United should be" among concerns which "now extend beyond the pitch".
On-field results have done little to appease supporters. United entered the weekend 13th in the Premier League with four points from their opening four games, and were knocked out of the Carabao Cup in midweek after a 3-2 home defeat by Brighton.
"After years of decline, broken promises and repeated failure, Manchester United Muslim Supporters' Club has lost confidence in the current ownership structure of Manchester United Football Club," the statement concluded. "Enough is enough. It is time for change. The Glazers and Sir Jim Ratcliffe must go."