- The Chief Operating Officer reveals that bots are responsible for an ‘unacceptable gaffe’
- Old Trafford was packed with Galatasaray supporters before the 3-2 win in the Champions League
- The club is working closely with fans to prevent a similar situation from happening again
Manchester United has apologized to its supporters for the large number of Galatasaray football fans who bought corporate hospitality passes and filled Old Trafford.
On Wednesday, the Turkish team visited United and won a 3-2 win in the Champions League.
Soon it became apparent that a large number of Galatasaray supporters were sitting outside the allocation for away fans. United deemed the match low-risk because only 2,200 tickets were taken by the visitors.
Collette Roche, United’s chief operating officer, said that bots are responsible for tricking United into thinking tickets were purchased by members. A large number of them were under 16 years old.
Galatasaray defeated Old Trafford at the Champions League final / Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Roche said: “Our systems showed that the tickets sold were primarily to official members with longstanding memberships who had attended matches during recent seasons. A large portion of these tickets was to people under 16 years old, and so did not show up in any pre-match screening as posing a risk.
The Galatasaray supporters who attended the event were adults.
The club’s sales policy hasn’t been a problem in recent years, but the number of tickets purchased by non-Turkish citizens who were Galatasaray supporters was unacceptable.
I hope that the information above gives you some assurances that we are taking this issue seriously and working with our fans representatives to prevent a possible repeat. “I apologize to all those who were affected, and I thank you for your support as usual.”
United was able to ease some of their anxiety after numerous off-field problems by winning 2-1 on Saturday. Scott McTominay scored twice in the final minutes to give the Red Devils a fourth Premier League win of the year.
