Man Utd launched a controversial crackdown on touting during the summer and the club are pleased with the operation after it concluded.
Old Trafford
A total of 685 season ticket holders have been banned by United
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Manchester United believe they have banned hundreds of touts from Old Trafford and broken up organised networks who were selling on tickets after concluding their controversial crackdown.
United have revealed that 685 season ticket holders have been banned after the operation, which attracted widespread condemnation from supporter groups and saw some innocent fans caught up in the crackdown. A further 464 received either a reduced sanction or a final warning.
There were 468 cases that were resolved after supporters responded with the relevant information and no further actions were taken, while 226 account holders received a final warning.
Club sources insist the operation has resulted in hundreds of touts being banned from Old Trafford and has broken up what they believe are large-scale organised networks buying tickets to sell on the black market.
Supporter groups have highlighted stories from fans who have been innocently caught up in the club's approach, although United insist no innocent supporter has been banned as a result. They also said all season tickets revoked would now be reissued to fans on the waiting list.
A total of 499 season ticket holders had a ban upheld on approach, while 73 cases resulted in a ban that was not appealed. A further 113 season tickets were banned after repeated requests for information went unanswered.
A club statement said: "Over the course of the summer, Manchester United undertook an operation to review accounts that showed irregular activity resembling ticket misuse. We committed to providing a further update once our investigation had concluded.
"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.
"The investigation identified 1,617 accounts where unusual activity was occurring and required further review. Each account holder was contacted and given the opportunity to provide information and explain the activity identified on their account. They were also told what activity had been identified to be able to respond to the club with an appropriate level of detail.
"Where satisfactory explanations were provided, restrictions were removed and no further action was taken. In many of those cases, the cause was sharing of account details and passwords, which is in breach of our terms and conditions. We recognise that many supporters have shared account login details in circumstances they regarded as legitimate, and we did not anticipate the extent to which this was occurring. In those cases, where there was no additional evidence of misuse, no sanction was imposed.
"Supporters then had the right to appeal to an independent appeals panel, which includes fan representation, established to provide an impartial review of decisions separate from the original investigating team.
"Ahead of the panel convening, where sanctions had been applied, a further review stage was implemented where each case subject to multiple levels of checks, conducted by club employees.
"All appeals have now been heard. The most serious sanction (a season ticket ban) was reserved for where there was sufficient evidence of tickets being sold above face value or activity for financial gain.
"The outcomes are as follows:
- 468 cases were resolved after supporters responded with the relevant information. No further action was taken, as the information provided satisfactorily explained the activity identified
- 226 accounts received a final warning where misuse was identified beyond simply sharing account details, but we were satisfied it wasn't done for financial gain
- 238 accounts had an initial season ticket ban reduced to a ban on home ticket forwarding and away match applications by the independent appeals panel, where there was a significantly higher level of misuse and the panel was not satisfied there was sufficient evidence of financial gain
- 499 cases resulted in a season ticket ban that was upheld by the independent appeals panel. This ban will last for one season and then those supporters will be able to join the waiting list to apply for tickets again
- 73 cases resulted in a season ticket ban that was not appealed
- 113 season tickets were banned after repeated requests for information received no response
"In total, 685 accounts have been subject to a ban, while 464 supporters received a reduced sanction or final warning.
"Bans were issued where there was significant misuse of the ticketing system for financial gain. This included the operation of organised ticketing networks, which were controlling, selling and distributing tickets from hundreds of accounts.
"These actions undermine fair access to tickets for genuine supporters and have no place at Manchester United.
"Our focus now turns to ensuring these tickets are returned to our supporters. All season tickets released through this process will be offered to supporters on the season ticket waiting list.
"Refunds have been or will be issued to each of the season ticket holders who have been banned.
"We want to allow any sanctioned ticket holder the opportunity to refer their case to the Independent Football Ombudsman. Therefore, we will wait until after the international break before reallocating season tickets. Any seats used on a match-by-match basis before then will be sold at season ticket prices, not matchday prices. The club is not profiting from this process.
"We would like to thank the many supporters who engaged constructively with the process and provided information when requested to enable us to remove the suspension on their accounts quickly. We remain committed to protecting fair access to tickets and ensuring Manchester United tickets are used by genuine supporters."