By Adegboyega Adeleye
Manchester United have banned 685 ticketing accounts and sanctioned or warned a further 464 supporters following a summer-long crackdown on ticket misuse and touting.
According to Reuters, United launched the investigation in July after identifying unusual activity involving 1,617 accounts, but said bans were imposed only where significant misuse of the ticketing system for financial gain was established.
The club said 468 cases were closed without further action after supporters provided information that satisfactorily explained the flagged activity.
A further 226 accounts received final warnings after misuse was identified but there was insufficient evidence that it was for financial gain.
Another 238 season-ticket bans were reduced by an independent appeals panel to restrictions on home ticket forwarding and away-match applications.
United said 499 season-ticket bans were upheld following appeals, while 73 bans were not appealed. A further 113 season tickets were banned after supporters repeatedly failed to respond to requests for information.
The club said the investigation had uncovered organised ticketing networks controlling, selling and distributing tickets across hundreds of accounts.
“The club’s guiding principle around ticketing is simple: to keep our fans safe and secure, to protect fair access to tickets for genuine Manchester United supporters and to tackle ticket touting, misuse and activity for financial gain,” United said.
The crackdown has, however, triggered anger among sections of the club’s support base.
The 1958 Manchester United fans’ group is organising a protest ahead of Sunday’s derby against Manchester City, arguing that the club’s action against supporters has been heavy-handed.
“Manchester United are sanctioning and banning loyal, generational Reds without clear and compelling evidence,” the group said.
The supporters’ group called on the club to provide evidence of serious wrongdoing and organised ticket touting, while insisting that loyal fans should have a fair opportunity to understand and challenge the cases against them.
United defended the investigation, saying innocent fans had not been punished and that the operation had successfully identified and disrupted large-scale organised ticket-touting networks.
The club also said sanctioned tickets would be sold at season-ticket prices on a match-by-match basis while the appeals process was completed, adding that it was not profiting from the process.
Manchester United are not the only major Premier League club to take action against ticket touting. Manchester City banned 165 supporters in March 2025, while Liverpool issued 432 lifetime bans in July 2026 and seized assets worth more than £1.2 million, according to the BBC.
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