MANCHESTER, England (AP) 鈥� Manchester United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe has been reminded of his 鈥渞esponsibilities as a participant in English football鈥� after he triggered a storm of criticism for by immigrants.
But England’s Football Association will not be charging Ratcliffe over his comments, which were widely condemned by political figures, including British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and the club’s supporters.
The governing body issued Ratcliffe with a reminder of his responsibilities when taking part in media interviews, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on Friday. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
British billionaire Ratcliffe, who owns petrochemicals giant INEOS, made the comments during an interview with Sky 海角社区app, which aired last week.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 have an economy with 9 million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 mean, the U.K.鈥檚 been colonized.鈥�
Ratcliffe’s comments touched a nerve in Britain, where . He later said he was sorry his choice of language had 鈥渙ffended some people.鈥�
Starmer had earlier called for him to apologize, saying 鈥淏ritain is a proud, tolerant and diverse country”.
United fans, who are proud of the diversity within the team and its supporter base, also condemned his words.
The Manchester United Supporters Trust said the 鈥渟enior leadership should make inclusion easier, not harder.鈥�
Critics accused Ratcliffe of 鈥渉ypocrisy,鈥� saying he has chosen to make his home in Monaco to reduce his U.K. tax bill.
Carrick proud of Man United’s culture
United’s head coach, Michael Carrick, said earlier Friday that the Premier League club was proud of its culture of equality and diversity.
Carrick, who was recently , faced the media for the first time since Ratcliffe鈥檚 remarks and he was asked for his response.
鈥淪ir Jim has made a statement, and then the club鈥檚 made a statement on the back of it so for me to add to that is not my place,” he said. 鈥淲hat I can say is, as I鈥檝e been around this club many, many years, we always make a huge impact globally.
鈥淲e鈥檙e really proud of the environment and the culture that we鈥檝e got at the club, and equality and diversity and respect for each other is something that we look to carry through every day.鈥�
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