Manchester United has acknowledged mistakes in their investigation into ticket touting, admitting they underestimated the prevalence of account sharing among fans. The club, which launched the probe last month after identifying suspicious account activity, including one instance of 1,088 accounts accessed on a single device, faced backlash from supporters fearing the confiscation of their season tickets.

Following a fans' forum on July 30, United conceded that their investigation process caused "distress" and that they "underestimated how common sharing account usernames and passwords was." They recognized that some genuine fans felt treated unfairly.

The club stated that in a "substantial number of cases," satisfactory explanations were provided, and restrictions were lifted. Season tickets will only be confiscated in instances of "organised touting, systematic misuse or activity for financial gain." United maintains the investigation was necessary to combat touting and return tickets to genuine fans.