Manchester United threaten long-term season ticket holders with bans in touting crackdown

Manchester United have suspended the ticketing accounts of numerous season ticket holders as part of a crackdown on touting, with some supporters facing permanent bans despite insisting they have done nothing wrong.

On Tuesday, a large number of supporters received emails from the club stating their accounts had been temporarily restricted after United claimed to have “identified sustained activity” associated with them. Fans were asked to confirm every device used to access their account, provide photographic identification, and explain whether their account is accessed from multiple locations or shared with other ticketing accounts.

Several affected supporters have spoken out, accusing the club of taking a blunt, blanket approach that has ensnared innocent fans. One season ticket holder of 27 years has had restrictions kept in place on their account. Another supporter who regularly attends both home and away fixtures — and has repeatedly complied with identification checks at away games — is now facing the loss of their ticket entirely.

A third fan has been told the restrictions will remain due to the “balance of the available evidence”, yet says the club has not provided any specific evidence of wrongdoing. Every supporter who came forward has said they submitted detailed responses to United’s initial email, none of which have been accepted.

United have acknowledged that their approach may catch innocent fans in the crossfire, but a club source pointed to cases where supporters responded to the initial email and had their accounts restored. The club also noted that some fans have not responded at all, which it believes could suggest guilt — though affected supporters who did respond say this reasoning has not been applied consistently in their cases.

United were unable to confirm how impacted fans were identified by their system, raising further questions about the reliability of the process. The club has said it is willing to review individual cases further, and has communicated to fans that it is working to ensure “fairness and transparency” in how the situation is handled.

The episode highlights the difficulty of policing ticket touting at scale without collateral damage to loyal supporters, some of whom have held their season tickets for decades.