United fans, started violence during Sunday’s protests. This led to the Premier League game with Liverpool being postponed.
The act of violence has been condemned by the UK government’s sports minister as well as the mayor of Greater Manchester.
The fans of Manchester United were protesting against the club’s American owners, the Glazer family. They stormed into the stadium which was closed to fans because of the pandemic.
The protesters ran into the field and threw a flare at the broadcasters podium. And some of them clashed with the police officers outside the ground.
In this process, two police officers were injured. One officer was attacked with a bottle and suffered a slash wound to his face. He required immediate medical attention.
“Passions are running high in football but there are ways to protest and make your voice heard without hurting or endangering others,” said Nigel Huddleston, Minister for Tourism and Sport.
“We understand the frustrations, but the violence by a small minority of fans at Old Trafford yesterday was unacceptable,” he said.
The protests were against Glazers, who were there since they bought the club in 2005. They have been reignited since United’s involvement in the attempt to create a breakaway European Super League.
Although Andy Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester expressed his support towards the protesters still, he criticized the violence.
“I fully understand the long-standing concerns of Manchester United supporters about both the ownership and financing of their club and the wider running of football,” he said.
“It is important to make clear that the majority of supporters made their protest peacefully…however, there is no excuse for the actions of a minority who injured police officers and endangered the safety of others,” he added.
According to the British foreign office minister James Cleverly, the authorities should have understood the mood of football supporters.
“(We) cannot, cannot condone the images that we’ve seen about storming the ground,” he said.
Further, he added- “But we do need to understand the frustrations that fans have not just with Manchester United, but with a number of clubs across the game.”
GMP Assistant Chief Constable Russ Jackson said the behaviour of the fans was “reckless and dangerous”.
Therefore, no decision regarding the rescheduling of the match has been made yet.
