Manchester United supporters' groups will challenge the club over its ticket touting clampdown at a Fans' Forum meeting on Thursday night, as criticism of the crackdown continues to grow.
United has faced backlash over the purge. The '58, Manchester United Supporters' Trust and The Red Army issued a joint statement last week accusing the club of making fans feel as though they are being treated as suspects.
United brought in an external agency that uses automated monitoring to detect signs of touting. The club has been criticised for casting the net too wide and catching innocent fans in the process.
Thousands of supporters, including some as young as six, have received notifications that their accounts were suspended over suspicious activity. Their season tickets could be revoked unless they provide a satisfactory explanation.
The quarterly Fans' Forum meeting on Thursday will give fan representatives a chance to confront United directly over the crackdown and urge the club to take a more lenient approach.
Protests have regularly been staged by Manchester United supporters clubs in recent years. The photo above was taken last year on the 20th anniversary of the Glazer takeover.
Muslims' group joins criticism
The Manchester United Muslims Supporters' Club backed the stance of other groups on Wednesday.
In a statement, the MUMSC said Manchester United had always been more than a football club, built by generations of supporters, dedicated staff, the people of Manchester and communities around the world who had given unwavering loyalty through every high and low. It said many supporters now felt that bond was being broken.
The group said the recent treatment of season ticket holders had deepened those concerns, with long standing supporters, some with decades of loyalty, speaking publicly about being suspended or losing their season tickets after allegations of breaking club rules. It questioned whether those supporters were given the evidence against them or a fair and transparent process, and said every supporter deserved fairness, transparency and the chance to be heard.
The MUMSC said trust was built through openness, not silence, and that the issues formed part of a wider feeling that the club was becoming disconnected from the people who built it. It said success should never come at the expense of the values that made the club great, and called for the people of Manchester United to be put back at the heart of the club.
