Manchester United have been urged to take action against ‘scumbag’ fans who have posed as disabled supporters to attend matches.
Mail Sport reported this week that United had received ‘several’ allegations of non-disabled fans attending away games in wheelchairs and using tickets allocated to disabled supporters.
The club has confirmed a series of measures aimed at preventing a repeat of the scam, including ordering all disabled fans with a wheelchair ticket to pick up with valid ID and increased checks outside stadiums, amid widespread conviction of those involved.
Fans who have passed on their tickets unlawfully have also been warned that they could face sanctions – including long-term bans – for advertising. Under the club’s rules, supporters are told to hand in their away match tickets if they cannot attend so they can be resold.
In response to Mail Sport’s reporting, Level Playing Field – one of the sport’s largest disability charities – told United they must do more, saying exploitation of the system ‘increases suspicion and discrimination’.
Man United fans have posed as disabled fans to gain entry to away matches (United supporters pictured at Anfield earlier this season)
“These allegations must be treated with extreme seriousness,” Level Playing Field chairman Tony Taylor said.
‘Abuse of ticket sales for disabled fans by non-disabled fans can directly deprive them of opportunities to attend live sport and also sets us so far back in the area of disability education.
“Some of the rhetoric surrounding these online reports is appalling. As a part-time wheelchair user myself, I will sometimes be seen using crutches instead.
‘The misunderstanding about this is widespread and if non-disabled fans abuse ticket sales for disabled fans, they increase suspicion and discrimination there, as well as for fans with non-visible disabilities and those who may have varying disabilities, in addition to directly denying access to the match day because of their selfishness.
‘This behavior cannot be tolerated and the club must take action to ensure tickets for disabled fans go to disabled fans.’
Disability charity Scope told Mail Sport that the allegations were ‘disheartening’ and warned those caught abusing the system of the ‘harmful consequences of their actions’.
“There are already a large number of barriers that disabled football fans face due to inaccessible stadiums and public transport issues and negative attitudes from other fans,” said Scope spokesperson Allison Kerry.
‘Disabled football fans should always have equal access to support their team.’
Mikey Erhardt, campaigner at Disability Rights UK, added: ‘Non-disabled people taking advantage of support and services designed for people with disabilities is always disappointing, whether it is people wrongly using the disabled parking spaces or football fans.
“We cannot be surprised that a situation like this arises, when the rhetoric of the government and its media champions demonizes people with disabilities and the support we need at all times.
‘However, we cannot allow these abuses to lead to more complex processes, as this would make it more difficult for genuine disabled fans to get the access we need. We hope the club will work with its disabled fans to ensure we are all welcome and treated equally.”
Liverpool’s Disabled Supporter Association also joined the queue. ‘We fully support @ManUtd’s position, and our friends @MudsaO support their disabled supporters. This is really shocking! Enough is enough,” they wrote on X.
MUDSA secretary Chas Banks slammed the ‘bastards’ caught using disabled tickets to gain entry to away games, saying some of these fans had been spotted in a wheelchair zone for a week before jumping out of their seats when United scored a goal. target the following.
United has taken a series of measures to prevent this scam from happening in the future
“I’ve seen evidence with my own eyes that these motherfuckers are doing this, and I have the pictures,” Banks recently told a Fans Forum meeting.
‘To the extent that they watched the match twice while sitting in a wheelchair on the wheelchair platform, and then watched the next match in the able-bodied section up and down when United scored a goal.
‘I fervently hope that anyone caught doing this will receive the strongest possible sanction.
“This is not a victimless crime, and I find it very sad that some of the people who lose to these horrible selfish fans are truly the least deserving to be robbed of the chance to get a ticket to which they are entitled . Because I promise you that for many of them, time is not on their side.”