Manchester United revokes 685 season tickets in touting investigation as fans plan demonstration

Manchester United have revoked 685 season tickets following an extensive and widely criticized probe into ticket touting at Old Trafford.

In August, the club flagged 1,617 accounts displaying "unusual activity." Those account holders were subsequently contacted and requested to explain the activity that raised red flags.

This aggressive tactic triggered fierce criticism from supporters , with many feeling that innocent and devoted fans were being unjustly targeted. A demonstration before Sunday's Manchester Derby at Old Trafford has been organized in response to what supporter group The 1958 described as penalties being imposed without "compelling evidence," as per The Mirror .

United have now revealed the outcome of their probe, which permitted fans to challenge decisions before an independent appeals panel. The club stated that 685 season tickets were withdrawn, including 499 for which a ban was confirmed by the appeals panel.

Meanwhile, 468 cases were settled after the season ticket holder supplied information clearing themselves. The club have acknowledged they "did not anticipate the extent" to which fans shared account details "in circumstances they regarded as legitimate," and in those instances no penalties were applied.

The club stated: "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."

To listen to the latest episode of 'All Out Soccer' - CLICK HERE

The club added: "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."

The organization confirmed 226 accounts received final warnings for rule violations without financial motive, while 238 accounts found guilty of additional infractions had their original season ticket suspension reduced to a prohibition on home ticket forwarding and away match applications.

Prior to the club's Friday announcement, Chris Rumfitt, a spokesperson for Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST), captured the discontent among supporters. He told Mirror Football : "If it was a clampdown on touting we would be entirely supportive, because the biggest losers of touting are fans who get exploited and ripped off.

"But what they are calling a clampdown on touting has brought up a huge numbers of match-going fans doing ordinary things match-going fans do, i.e. passing tickets between groups of friends at face value, which people wouldn't consider to be touting.

"There is no question that large number of ordinary fans have been caught up in this because what the club has defined as 'suspicious' included lots of things fans do."

Rumfitt contends that the issue has resonated so deeply with supporters that only the ill-fated attempt to establish a European Super League five years ago rivals the intensity of feeling among the fan base.

He added: "The approach the club has taken has been 'ban first, ask questions later.' They've banned people and then asked them to prove that they haven't done anything wrong, which isn't normally how things work in this country. The burden of proof works the other way around.

"There's a massive amount of discontent among all fan groups, it's really united the fans. The way the club has gone about this is completely wrong. It has spread further mistrust."