IS THAT REALLY THE REASON?

From the MEN:

Manchester United are cracking down on phoney fans who cash in on autographs from their world-famous players.

Reds chiefs fear the money-spinning market for soccer stars' signatures on sporting memorabilia is hindering the club's efforts to assist worthy causes.

Now David Beckham and the boys are being warned only to sign personalised autographs for fans who they meet face-to-face.

The written warning - hung in the players' area at the Carrington training ground - follows a massive growth in the market for autographed sporting memorabilia, with signed football shirts changing hands for thousands of pounds.

Carrington security guards recently discovered a gang which was paying
schoolchildren £25 a time to get autographs on United shirts piled high in the boot of a car parked nearby. Other autograph hunters have written to the club pretending to represent charities.

United's charities administrator Wendy Rennison said:

"Players are torn between genuine autograph hunters and those who are there all the time and just sell autographs on. Because players cannot distinguish which are which, they drive past and that is something they do not want to do.

"One group was paying kids £25 each for each shirt that they got signed. Our security guards rumbled them and told the players.

"David Beckham and the other players will now only sign if fans gives them a name to dedicate the autograph to. A genuine fan should be over the moon about that. Collecting autographs is meant to be about having met that famous person. This trade is taking all that away from people.

"A lot of the big charities depend on auctions of autographed shirts and soccer balls which we provide them with for free.

"One charity recently raised £5,000 by auctioning shirts signed by Roy Keane and Fabien Barthez and a ball signed by the team. If these items are freely available on the Internet, people aren't going to continue donating that kind of money to charity in order to obtain them."