{"id":324,"date":"2026-09-29T20:55:37","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T20:55:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumofmuslimorganisations.co.uk\/?p=324"},"modified":"2026-09-29T20:56:40","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T20:56:40","slug":"statement-on-sir-jim-ratcliffe-and-the-manchester-united-muslim-supporters-club","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumofmuslimorganisations.co.uk\/?p=324","title":{"rendered":"Statement on Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the Manchester United Muslim Supporters\u2019 Club"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Manchester United is one of Greater Manchester\u2019s most prominent institutions, supported by people from diverse nationalities, faiths and backgrounds. Its recognised faith-based groups include the Manchester United Muslim Supporters\u2019 Club, the Manchester United Jewish Supporters\u2019 Club and Stretford Sikhs. Each should be valued and treated equally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We are concerned by Sir Jim Ratcliffe\u2019s repeated comments linking Britain\u2019s difficulties to immigration and people receiving benefits, including his statement that the country had been \u201ccolonised by immigrants.\u201d As a co-owner and leading representative of Manchester United, his words carry weight. They have drawn the club into divisive political controversy and risk damaging its reputation as an inclusive institution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Reform UK has since used Sir Jim\u2019s \u201ccolonised by immigrants\u201d remarks in a promotional video posted by Nigel Farage. INEOS has stated that Sir Jim did not authorise this use. Nevertheless, the episode demonstrates how such language can be adopted for party-political campaigning and draw Manchester United further into a polarising national debate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">MUMSC is entitled to respond to Sir Jim\u2019s comments and express concerns about the club\u2019s leadership and direction. Muslim supporters have the same rights as every other recognised supporters\u2019 group: to organise collectively, scrutinise the club\u2019s owners and participate in discussions about its future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">MUMSC has also made a positive contribution by helping to develop an additional multi-faith room, organising fan-led iftars at Old Trafford and undertaking charitable fundraising. Its work demonstrates how faith-based supporters\u2019 groups can serve their members, bring people together and contribute to the wider community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">FMO supports MUMSC\u2019s right to issue its statement and speak on behalf of its members. People may disagree with its position on Manchester United\u2019s ownership. That is legitimate debate. Anti-Muslim hostility, personal intimidation, abuse directed at migrants and attempts to delegitimise Muslim supporters are not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On 22 September, The Telegraph published a column entitled, \u201cWhy do Man Utd have a Muslim supporters\u2019 group?\u201d It questioned MUMSC\u2019s purpose and used Islamic beliefs and practices as material for ridicule. Manchester United\u2019s recognised Jewish and Sikh supporters\u2019 clubs were not subjected to equivalent scrutiny. The Football Supporters\u2019 Association has also criticised the article and defended the place of faith-based groups within football.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We call upon Manchester United Football Club to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Reaffirm that anti-Muslim hatred, racism and abuse directed at migrants have no place within the club or its supporter community.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Defend the right of MUMSC and all recognised supporters\u2019 groups to express legitimate criticism without intimidation or retaliation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Respond appropriately where MUMSC or its members face targeted hostility, threats or harassment.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Continue engaging constructively with MUMSC and support all recognised faith-based supporters\u2019 groups equally.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Reaffirm the club\u2019s independence from party-political campaigning.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Manchester United\u2019s strength comes from the diversity, loyalty and shared commitment of its supporters. Its leadership must uphold the values of respect, inclusion and belonging that the club has publicly embraced.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Manchester United is one of Greater Manchester\u2019s most prominent institutions, supported by people from diverse nationalities, faiths and backgrounds. Its [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":296,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumofmuslimorganisations.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumofmuslimorganisations.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumofmuslimorganisations.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumofmuslimorganisations.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumofmuslimorganisations.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=324"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/forumofmuslimorganisations.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":325,"href":"https:\/\/forumofmuslimorganisations.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324\/revisions\/325"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumofmuslimorganisations.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumofmuslimorganisations.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumofmuslimorganisations.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumofmuslimorganisations.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}