Last night, we learnt of the tragic news of the death of Cristiano Ronaldo’s baby son. Our hearts go out to Cristiano, his partner and his whole family. Before we move onto the main content of today’s message, on behalf of MUST and I am sure every football fan, we would like to wish them all our deepest sympathies and condolences.
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This time last year, United were one of 12 European football clubs to launch the so-called European Super League. Thankfully we, the fans, stopped them in their tracks and their ESL plans came to a quick and sorry end. But the reality is many of the ideas behind it designed to advantage the biggest clubs and pull them further away from their domestic roots have never gone away.
In recent weeks, discussions at UEFA to do just that – increase the number of Champions League games and give some clubs privileged entry – have been hotting up and we fear an announcement of changes to the Champions League are now likely in the coming weeks.
In our recent United Voice survey some 80% of you said you were opposed to those changes and we have written to the Club to set out our position. Yesterday we shared with you that letter and pointed out that the aftermath of the ESL the Club promised to consult with fans before they made any future changes to the competitions we enter. We have received assurances they will do so.
The other ongoing issue is the Fan Share Scheme. Again, this was a promise made by Joel Glazer personally in the aftermath of the ESL and now one year on we have still to agree a scheme.
We are deeply frustrated and disappointed by the pace of progress on the FSS. Of course the ESL anniversary is an artificial milestone, but nevertheless a year is a very long time to wait for someone to make good on a promise. We have discussions with the Club which will cover the FSS over the coming weeks, at which point we will determine next steps in full consultation with members.
Both on and off the field, it’s a frustrating time to be a Red. We saw protests before the Norwich game on Saturday, making clear that United fans expect better. And we are demanding the owners and management of the Club start to deliver it.
MUST – the Manchester United Supporters Trust – www.imust.org.uk
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