Manchester United owner Ratcliffe may face FA charge over immigrants rant
By:
Frank Dalleres
Sports Editor
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Ratcliffe's comments about immigrants have been widely criticised
Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe could face a Football Association charge over his widely-criticised comments that the UK has been “colonised by immigrants”.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and the Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham have already condemned Ratcliffe’s remarks and now the FA is set to examine whether they have brought the game into disrepute, according to the Press Association.
Any FA investigation would likely focus on FA Rule E3.1, which states: “A participant shall at all times act in the best interests of the game and shall not act in any manner which is improper or brings the game into disrepute or use any one, or a combination of, violent conduct, serious foul play, threatening, abusive, indecent or insulting words or behaviour.”
Rule E3.2 states that a breach of Rule E3.1 would be considered an “aggravated breach” where it includes a reference, whether express or implied, to any one or more of the following – ethnic origin, colour, race, nationality, religion or belief, gender, gender reassignment, sexual orientation or disability. Ratcliffe, as a club co-owner, is subject to FA rules.
Following the backlash, he said: “I am sorry that my choice of language has offended some people in the UK and Europe.”
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Ratcliffe told Sky News on Wednesday: “You can’t have an economy with 9m people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in.
“I mean, the UK is being colonised. It’s costing too much money. The UK has been colonised by immigrants.”