Omar Berrada torn apart for lying to Man United fans – ‘this is very hard to justify’
Man United’s CEO Omar Berrada has been heavily criticised after another controversial move from club chiefs at Old Trafford.
In an interview with The Athletic last week (June 17), Berrada apologised to supporters for the way last season’s Man United ticket price increase was handled, saying: “What I accept is that the way it was rolled out was not good. I raise my hand, I’m responsible for that decision.”
However, just a day later, United angered fans by raising their ticket prices once again, with Category A matches spiralling from £66 to £97 from next season.
Red Devils supporters are furious with Berrada, as well as Sir Jim Ratcliffe, as they feel they have been lied to and are now being taken advantage of.
Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – agrees that the latest price hike is yet another example of a Man United PR blunder.
‘Man United make a mistake every week’, says Wyness
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, Wyness insisted that Berrada misled United supporters by giving a “great” interview before hiking ticket prices the next day.
Ratcliffe has come under huge scrutiny during his tenure at Old Trafford, and this is just the latest controversy during his time in charge.
Wyness added that the Red Devils are making a mistake “every week” at the moment.
He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “I think it’s very hard to justify.
“We just had Omar Berrada, the CEO, doing a great interview, it all came across very well. He put his hand up and blamed himself for the way the £66 ticket increase had been handled.
“But now here we are at £97. And again, we’ve just got to look across the city at Man City, who have actually listened to their fans and reduced prices considerably.
“It’s Man United again, another mistake. It’s every week that we’ve got one more thing to discuss with them about the PR situation. They’ve got to get this right.”
Man United eye move for goalkeeper
Meanwhile, Football Insider exclusively revealed that Man United are eyeing a move for Botafogo goalkeeper John Victor to bolster their options.
United have held a long-term interest in Victor and scouts have been watching him at this summer’s Club World Cup.
The 29-year-old is understood to have a clause allowing him to leave for as little as $8million (£5.8m) this summer after he agreed to stay with the Brazilian side to play at the Club World Cup despite having offers to leave for Europe in January.
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