Manchester United have admitted mistakes in how they carried out a ticket touting investigation, acknowledging it caused "distress" to some loyal supporters. The club had begun restricting accounts last month after identifying activity such as one device accessing 1,088 accounts, but many genuine fans found themselves fearing they would lose their season tickets without understanding why, prompting the club to concede it had underestimated how commonly fans shared login details for legitimate reasons.

United say the investigation used a threshold of seven or more accounts accessed from a single device between March and June 2026, compared with an average of 1.2 accounts per ticket holder, and that a "satisfactory explanation" has already led to restrictions being lifted in a substantial number of cases. The admission follows a fans' forum on 30 July and reporting that thousands of accounts had been restricted, including one belonging to a six-year-old season ticket holder. The club maintains the crackdown uncovered genuine organised touting, insists confiscated tickets will be reissued as season tickets rather than sold as corporate hospitality, and says the investigation continues with fans given a 14-day deadline to respond.