LONDON - Police in Britain are investigating threats made by a militant group of fans against directors of the world's richest soccer club Manchester United, following its takeover by US tycoon Malcolm Glazer.
The US financier completed a £790 million ($2billion) purchase of the club in May, angering many supporters
who said he knew nothing about soccer and would cream off the profits to pay off debts accrued by the purchase.
One fans' group which calls itself the "Manchester Education Committee" (MEC) has released a statement on various soccer websites which make thinly veiled threats to members of the English Premier League club's new board.
"All senior figures within the club are considered 'fair game,'" the statement said.
"The Committee would like to stress that it will at no stage seek out ´soft´ targets, but that it can only speak for its own members."
Many outraged fans have staged protests since Glazer made public his interest in taking over the club -- thousands demonstrated before the club's Champions League tie with AC Milan in February -- but the MEC has been the most militant.
It was blamed for disrupting a horse race meeting at Hereford in central England when a group carried banners onto the track to protest against Irish racing tycoons and former United shareholders John Magnier and JP McManus, who sold their holding to Glazer.
Police said they were taking the latest warnings seriously.
"All reports will be investigated fully and Greater Manchester Police will do everything possible to ensure that the people making these threats are brought to justice," said Chief Superintendent Andy Holt.
A police spokeswoman said the MEC carefully worded its statements so that they did not break the law themselves or provide any details of what they were intending.
"There's very little you can do on the information provided by these websites," she said.
On Tuesday, the club announced that Glazer's three sons would be joining its board but the only director specifically named in the MEC statement was chief executive David Gill, seen by some fans as a traitor for not rejecting the takeover bid.
"David Gill especially should be aware that personal information he placed in the public domain during a conversation with a shareholder during November´s AGM could prove extremely costly," the statement said.
The club had no comment on the threats. "We never get involved in talking about security stories," a spokesman said.
- REUTERS
LONDON - Police in Britain are investigating threats made by a militant group of fans against directors of the world's richest soccer club Manchester United, following its takeover by US tycoon Malcolm Glazer.
The US financier completed a £790 million ($2billion) purchase of the club in May, angering many supporters
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