Manchester United has banned 685 season ticket holders following an investigation, with another 464 fans receiving reduced penalties or final warnings, according to The Athletic.

Manchester United stated that the review found abnormal activity in 1,617 accounts requiring further investigation.

After contacting account holders and giving them the opportunity to provide information and explain the activity on their accounts, 499 cases were upheld after appeal. 73 cases resulted in bans without appeal, and an additional 113 season tickets were banned due to multiple requests for information going unanswered.

226 accounts received a final warning, while the initial ban for 238 accounts was reduced to restrictions on home ticket transfers and ineligibility for away ticket applications.

Manchester United stated that after review, 468 cases were resolved after the explanations for the detected activity were deemed satisfactory.

The club said in a statement on Friday: "Those who severely abused the ticketing system for financial gain have been banned. This includes organized ticketing networks that manipulated, sold, and distributed tickets from hundreds of accounts."

"These actions undermine fair access to tickets for genuine supporters and have no place at Manchester United. Our focus now is on ensuring these tickets return to our fans. All season tickets released through this process will be offered to fans on the season ticket waiting list."

"Banned season ticket holders have received or will receive a refund."

Earlier this week, the main supporter group 1958 announced a protest before Sunday's Manchester derby against Manchester City to express opposition to these penalties.

The club was accused of using aggressive language when outlining possible penalties, which unsettled some fans who feared losing their seats.

There was also online anger over text messages sent to season ticket holders demanding payment to attend Thursday's Champions League opener against Al-Shabab or risk losing their seats for the next Premier League match.

However, others pointed out that this policy has been in place for over 20 years and only applies to fans who have agreed to the relevant terms.

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