Outrage has ensued after a Manchester United fan had his banner confiscated because of its anti-Glazer message.
The incident occurred on entry to the Reale Arena ahead of the Red Devil’s Europa League match against Real Sociedad.
A fan was halted by stewards and had the flag taken from them with the steward justifying the act by saying:
“Because it says ‘anti-Glazers’ mate, they don’t want it in. They don’t want it in there.”
The incident was caught on camera, with the shocked fan saying, “So, because it says Glazers out on it, I’m not allowed it in the stadium?”
The steward confirmed.
The whole video was tweeted yesterday:
UNITED OFFICIALS TAKING MY FLAG OFF ME GOING IN TO THE STADIUM BECAUSE IT HAS GLAZERS OUT ON IT..@ManUtd SORT YOUR SELF OUT!! #MUFC #GlazersOut pic.twitter.com/zRRyDk7ULx
— Chris (@Busby1999) November 3, 2022
The club denies any involvement in the confiscation and insists that they have no authority to influence the rules set by local stewards at other stadiums.
A statement issued by the club asserts this further:
“To reiterate our position, Manchester United recognises the right to peaceful and legal protest, and the club has a clear stance that anti-owner flags are not banned at Old Trafford as long as they are not offensive.
“However, we do not control the policies of clubs that host us on our travels and the decision to ban certain flags at the Reale Arena last night was made by our opponent and not Manchester United.
“Our stewards are instructed to act in line with the home club under the rules of the host venue, and that included a rule banning any political banners.
“The home club interpreted this to include anti-owner banners.
“At no point did Manchester United ask for or recommend this approach and we are clear to all clubs we visit that we do not advocate the confiscation of banners of this nature.”
While there is merit in the suggestion that the club cannot control the actions of stewards at other stadiums, Old Trafford stewards have previously been filmed doing exactly the same thing back in August.
The 1958, an anti-Glazer supporter’s group, tweeted the video:
“This is the state of our club Security illegally confiscating a GLAZERS OUT flag from the TRA disabled section last night
“By the Club’s own definition it does NOT fit into any of the categories (political, commercial, illegal ..)”
This is the state of our club
Security illegally confiscating a GLAZERS OUT flag from the TRA disabled section last night
By the Club's own definition it does NOT fit into any of the categories (political, commercial, illegal ..)
We will be taking this up with @MU_ST directly pic.twitter.com/7Stpc0iZvo
— The 1958 (@The__1958) August 23, 2022
Fans will continue to be outraged by any such incident wherever it occurs, but should it happen again at Old Trafford, the backlash will be immense.
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