Two of Manchester United’s biggest supporters’ clubs have said Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s apology is not good enough after his comments on immigration.
Manchester United’s Muslim Supporters Club and Stretford Sikhs told Metro their thousands of members were ‘insulted, appalled and outraged’ by the remarks.
Sir Jim, who is the co-owner of the football club and chairman of one of the world’s largest chemical companies, Ineos, has since apologised for saying the UK ‘has been colonised by migrants’.
The comments sparked widespread backlash, with the Prime Minister Keir Starmer calling the comments ‘offensive and wrong’.
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Sir Jim said this afternoon: ‘I am sorry that my choice of language has offended some people in the UK and Europe and caused concern, but it is important to raise the issue of controlled and well-managed immigration that supports economic growth.’
Preetam Singh, 37, founder of the Manchester United supporters’ club Stretford Sikhs, said the billionaire’s statement ‘was not much of an apology’.
He told Metro: ‘It is a half-hearted apology. It is more of a justification of what he said.
‘Sir Jim’s remarks are everything Manchester United is not. Everyone at Stretford Sikhs is pretty disappointed. It is shocking.
‘This country is going through difficult times. We don’t need big personalities like him making comments like this. Football is about bringing people together.’
Preetam, whose parents came to the UK from Punjab in northern India in the 1970s, said Sir Jim’s comments ‘ruined everything’ Manchester United was doing to foster diversity at the club.
He founded Stretford Sikhs less than a year ago and in that time has hosted traditional Sikh community kitchen event, called a langar, outside Old Trafford.
He said the club should rally together to demand that their co-owner make another apology.
Ghulam Haydar, co-founder of Manchester United’s Muslim Supporters Club (MUMSC), agreed that Sir Jim needed to engage with fan groups to understand the depth of anger among supporters.
The 39-year-old told Metro: ‘While an apology is welcome, it seems a bit of a half apology. It needs to go further and beyond.’
Most upsetting for the superfan was that Sir Jim did not address his use of the term ‘colonise’, which ‘comes with implications of taking and not giving back’.
He added: ‘Sir Jim’s comments are very alienating. Much of the fan base are first, second, or third generation migrants.
‘I work for the NHS – I know how valued migrants are.
‘The hospitality staff and security – many of them are people of colour. What sort of message does that send to them?’
Ghulam, whose parents came to the UK from the Indian subcontinent, started up MUMSC just under two years ago. Now it has 30,000 members.
The group’s CEO and captain also have migrant backgrounds.
MUMSC organised their first ever Iftar event at Old Trafford in March last year, giving 160 supporters the chance to break their daily fast during Ramadan at the club.
Ghulam said the group might think again about doing the gathering this Ramadan.
He added: ‘We are in discussions about a iftar for this Ramadan and a date might have been set.
‘It [Sir Jim’s comments] does put us in a difficult situation. Many of our members are very upset. It does feed into that narrative that they might not be welcome.
‘We might need to consider whether it is appropriate to follow through. It does raise that question.’
What did Sir Jim Ratcliffe say?
In an interview with Sky News aired on Wednesday, Sir Jim said: ‘You can’t have an economy with nine million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in.
‘I mean, the UK is being colonised. It’s costing too much money. The UK has been colonised by immigrants.’
In a statement released today, Sir Jim said: ‘I am sorry that my choice of language has offended some people in the UK and Europe and caused concern, but it is important to raise the issue of controlled and well-managed immigration that supports economic growth.
‘My comments were made while answering questions about UK policy at the European Industry Summit in Antwerp, where I was discussing the importance of economic growth, jobs, skills and manufacturing in the UK.
‘My intention was to stress that governments must manage migration alongside investment in skills, industry and jobs so that long-term prosperity is shared by everyone. It is critical that we maintain an open debate on the challenges facing the UK.’
Both Gulam and Preetam said the controversial remarks were most offensive to Manchester United’s international fan base.
Gulam explained: ‘International fans save up so much money to watch a game at Old Trafford. How welcome will they feel now?
‘Will they feel like they are going to be faced by hostility?’
Show Racism the Red Card, which collaborates with footballers to work as an anti-racism charity, also said they were deeply concerned by Ratcliffe’s comments.
They added: ‘Britain is a diverse society shaped by migration. Framing that diversity as “colonisation” is reinforcing harmful stereotypes and emboldening those who seek to divide rather than unite.’
Sir Jim bought a minority share in Manchester United in late 2023 and his Ineos group has since taken control of football operations.
The billionaire has presided over a variety of contentious changes since becoming part of the ownership, with ticket pricing and availability causing particular anger among United fans.
Sir Jim also discussed this in his Sky interview, saying: ‘Well, I’ve been very unpopular at Manchester United because we’ve made lots of changes. But for the better, in my view. And I think we’re beginning to see some evidence in the football club that that’s beginning to pay off.
‘But you’ve got all the same issues with the country. If you really want to deal with the major issues of immigration, with people opting to take benefits rather than working for a living, if you want to deal with that, then you’re going to have to do some things which are unpopular, and show some courage.’
A protest against the club’s owners – including for the first time towards Sir Jim as well as the Glazers – took place before Manchester United’s recent home game against Fulham.
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