The Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been dragged into a political row after the Reform UK party featured his remarks about immigration in a promotional video, prompting the club's Muslim supporters group to issue a vote of no confidence in the billionaire.
The video, posted by the Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, was headlined by Ratcliffe's statement that parts of Britain had been colonised by immigrants. The remarks were originally made by Ratcliffe in an interview with Sky News, in which the 73-year-old petrochemicals tycoon discussed his views on immigration and national identity.
In response to his appearance in the video, the Manchester United Muslim Supporters Club issued a vote of no confidence in the INEOS chairman, declaring that it was time for him to go. The group said his comments were incompatible with the values of a club whose fanbase spans every community. Manchester United fans more broadly expressed their displeasure at seeing the club's co-owner used as the figurehead of a party campaign video, with many arguing that the club should remain above party politics.
According to The Athletic, INEOS, the petrochemicals firm which Ratcliffe controls, confirmed that the billionaire had no knowledge of the video and did not give permission for his words to be used in it. The company did not confirm whether it had asked Reform to take the video down. When contacted, Reform said that because the clip was taken from an interview Ratcliffe gave to Sky News, which was publicly broadcast, it did not need permission from INEOS to use the footage. The party added that as far as it was aware, neither INEOS nor Ratcliffe had complained, and that it had no plans to remove or alter the video. Another football personality who featured in the video was the former Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp.
Ratcliffe, one of Britain's richest men, acquired a minority stake in Manchester United and took control of football operations at Old Trafford, promising to restore the club to the summit of English and European football. His tenure has been turbulent, marked by cost-cutting measures, redundancies, ticket price rises and mixed results on the pitch, all of which have strained his relationship with supporters.
The episode highlighted the growing politicisation of football ownership in England, where billionaire owners' public statements are increasingly scrutinised by fan groups. For Ratcliffe, who has generally avoided party-political entanglements, being made the poster figure of an immigration-focused campaign video was an unwelcome development. Whether he takes legal steps to have his image removed from the video remains unclear, but the vote of no confidence ensures the controversy will continue to follow him into the stands at Old Trafford.