Man Utd news: FA to assess Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s “insulting” and “inflammatory” immigration comments

The Football Association will assess whether Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe brought the game into disrepute through his controversial comments on immigration in the UK.

Ratcliffe, 73, caused widespread anger on Wednesday after claiming in an interview with Sky News that the UK had been "colonised by immigrants" and suggested that Prime Minister Keir Starmer was "too nice" to do "difficult things" to stabilise the UK economy.

The British billionaire, based in Monaco, who is the founder of chemicals company Ineos, said: "You can't have an economy with nine million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in. I mean, the UK has been colonised. It's costing too much money.

"The UK has been colonised by immigrants, really, hasn't it? I mean, the population of the UK was 58 million in 2020, now it's 70 million. That's 12 million people."

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates that the population of the UK was, in fact, 67 million in mid-2020 and 70 million in mid-2024.

According to multiple reports, including one from The Guardian, Ratcliffe’s comments have not gone unnoticed within the FA and they will examine his remarks further before deciding whether he has broken any rules.

Ratcliffe could be punished by FA after “offensive and wrong” immigration comments

Speaking in Brussels prior to the UEFA Nations League draw, FA chief executive Mark Bullingham refused to comment on the Ratcliffe row, telling reporters: “I can’t comment too much on that. Obviously it’s a matter that our legal and regulation team are working to.”

As quoted by The Telegraph, Rule E3.1 in the FA rules states that figures “must act in the game’s best interests and not act improperly or bring the game into disrepute, covering abusive, violent, or insulting behaviour”.

It is a wide-ranging offence applied to behaviour that harms football’s reputation, including inappropriate comments made to the media.

Ratcliffe has since issued a public statement in which he apologised for the language he used, after his remarks were labelled “offensive and wrong” by Prime Minister Starmer.

"I am 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,” said Ratcliffe on Thursday.

"My comments were made while answering questions about UK policy at the European Industry Summit in Antwerp, where I was discussing the importance of economic growth, jobs, skills and manufacturing in the UK.

"My intention was to stress that governments must manage migration alongside investment in skills, industry and jobs so that long-term prosperity is shared by everyone. It is critical that we maintain an open debate on the challenges facing the UK."

How have political figures and organisations reacted to Ratcliffe’s comments?

Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has said in a strongly-worded statement that the comments made by Ratcliffe were ‘inaccurate, insulting and inflammatory’ and they "go against everything for which Manchester has traditionally stood"

In addition, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has called Ratcliffe's remarks "unacceptable" and "disgusting", while Show Racism the Red Card - an anti-racism educational charity - has said that it is "deeply concerned" by Ratcliffe's comments.

In stark contrast, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has said that he "firmly" believes Ratcliffe's comments were "right" following the Man United co-owner's apology.

In two separate posts on X, Farage said: “Britain has undergone unprecedented mass immigration that has changed the character of many areas in our country. Labour may try to ignore that but Reform won’t.

“1m people living in Britain don’t speak English. Areas of our towns and cities have been completely changed. Jim Ratcliffe is right.”

Ratcliffe has made significant changes at Man United and has restructured the club since acquiring a 27.7% stake from the Glazer family in 2024, making 450 redundancies, overhauling senior management and sacking two managers in Erik ten Hag and, most recently, Ruben Amorim.

Man United, who have Michael Carrick in interim charge of the first team until the end of the season, currently sit fourth in the Premier League table following a run of four wins and one draw in their last five matches.