In the coming days, Sir Jim Ratcliffe should discover if the Football Association's legal team has decided the Manchester United co-owner brought the game into disrepute with his comments on immigration last week, which sparked condemnation from the government and beyond. But whatever the FA does, the impact of his claim that the UK had been "colonised by immigrants" - while citing incorrect population data - could be felt for some time to come. Regardless of the fact Ratcliffe also received support in some quarters for raising the issue of immigration in his interview with Sky News, the fact United felt the need to issue a statement that read like a public rebuke towards their own co-owner was a sign of the dismay felt at Old Trafford - along with concern at the potential cost of the backlash his words provoked. The pointed assertion of United's "inclusive and welcoming" values - while not directly naming Ratcliffe - was a deliberate attempt to distance the club from him, and according to Old Trafford sources was signed off at the highest level. Hours earlier Ratcliffe had said, external he was "sorry that my choice of language has offended some people in the UK and Europe and caused concern but it is important to raise the issue of controlled and well-managed immigration that supports economic growth".

Source: BBC February 16, 2026 14:06 UTC