MANCHESTER UNITED TICKETS from Alex Ferguson’s personal allocation were bought and sold by touts on the streets outside Old Trafford, a Manchester court heard yesterday.
Four men were hit with fines and banning orders after a covert police sting found that they were illegally selling and distributing tickets to United games, the Manchester Evening News reports.
And among the evidence produced by the prosecution at Trafford magistrates court yesterday were 16 tickets printed with Ferguson’s name.
The United boss is not suspected of any wrongdoing however, and told an internal club investigation that he had given the tickets to acquaintances and had no knowledge of the illegal operation.
Detective Constable Paul Walls led the operation, code-named Pickup, which saw undercover policemen target four of the club’s home games last season.
He told the court that the four defendants were part of a gang which advertised tickets on the internet and organised their collection near the ground, often charging as much as £200 for a single game.
All four, aged between 51 and 44, pleaded guilty.
those Man City people will stoop to anything to upset Mr. ferguson