Muslim fans group demands Ratcliffe leave Man United

Manchester United's Muslim Supporters' Club has called on Sir Jim Ratcliffe to step down as co-owner, after remarks he made in a BBC interview about immigration and welfare in Britain.

Ratcliffe told the broadcaster the UK was a country "on the slide" from the days when it had "the greatest empire in the world", and said nobody was "tough enough" to deal with either immigration or benefits.

MUMSC posted what it called a "statement of no confidence" on X. "Our 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. Manchester United does not belong emotionally to investment funds, shareholders or billionaires. 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. Enough is enough. It is time for change. The Glazers and Sir Jim Ratcliffe must go," the club said.

It is not the first time Ratcliffe has drawn this response. Seven months ago he told Sky News that Britain was being "colonised by immigrants", and later said he was sorry if those comments had "offended some people". MUMSC said it had challenged him over that episode too. "We hoped a lesson had been learned. Clearly, it has not," the club said, adding that it found the latest remarks "deeply disappointing and completely unacceptable".

Ratcliffe, who founded the petrochemicals group Ineos and has been a Monaco tax resident since 2020, and. He also argued in the BBC interview that Britons, unlike Americans, no longer applaud those who create wealth, and described the current mood in the country as one of envy toward fortunes such as his own, put at £15bn.