Manchester United believe they have disrupted organised ticketing networks, having removed 685 season tickets as part of a contentious ticket touting investigation.
The club’s heavy-handed summer crackdown resulted in widespread condemnation from fans and supporter groups after many innocent people faced the threat of sanction.
The 1958 this week called for fans to “stand united” against the “season ticket ban fiasco” in a protest ahead of Sunday’s derby against Manchester City as a “line has been crossed”.
United released an outcome update on their investigation ahead of this weekend’s action, revealing that 685 accounts have been subject to a ban while 464 supporters received a reduced sanction or final warning.
A club statement read: “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.”
United say the investigation identified 1,617 accounts that required further review due to what it calls “unusual activity”.
Of those stripped of season tickets, 113 failed to respond to requests for further information, 73 did not appeal and 499 received bans upheld by an independent appeals panel.
United last month said that an independent company had “uncovered significant and organised touting” having reviewed account activity on the club’s ticketing platform between March and June.
However, the club acknowledged that their ticketing touting investigation had “caused significant concern and distress for some supporters”.
United also conceded that they had “underestimated how common sharing account usernames and passwords was” and recognised “that some fans may have felt they were being treated unfairly".
