‘Last week’s appeal by Tony Lloyd for the Government to intervene in the battle to save United on the grounds that Glazer’s takeover of the club would damage the long term future of the game of football received a muted response from ministers. It is becoming increasingly clear that the authorities are shying away from making any intervention and we need to start applying some pressure to show them how many fans are genuinely concerned.
As daft as it may seem there are those in Whitehall who believe most United fans don’t really care what happens to our club and we need to change that opinion. IMUSA wants fans to write to The Office of Fair Trading and demand that The OFT refer the Glazer bid to the competition authorities.
During the Murdoch campaign less than five hundred letters saw the Sky deal referred to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission and this campaign is far bigger than that.’
A letter along the following lines would be sufficient:
'I am a match-going supporter of Manchester United. I will not be able to afford the price rises that, it is reported, Glazer will introduce. As a consumer, I will be disadvantaged if Glazer is permitted to proceed with his acquisition. I would therefore urge the OFT to refer this to the Competition Commission to investigate.'
Send your letter to:
Mr Andrew Hobbs
Office of Fair Trading
Fleetbank House
2-6 Salisbury Square
London
EC4Y 8JX
Written letters work best but you can also email:
Get everyone you know to do the same, if there are two or three of you in the same house then each send a letter. Non-match-going fans can express their concern that Glazer’s indebtedness poses a threat as he may well attempt to destroy any future TV deals and make all United’s games pay-per-view. If you know anyone who buys shirts and merchandise then they too should be persuaded to write outlining fears that he may raise prices on merchandise too. Fans of other clubs should also be persuaded to write in expressing their concern that the wider game of football is threatened by Glazer’s takeover.
NB. All correspondence, including emails must contain a genuine postal address.