Manchester United have confirmed that their new 'supporter escalations executive' hire will be part of the club's standard incentive scheme, which applies to all staff.
The club posted a job advert for a supporter escalations executive, a dedicated staff member to "support the club's mission to tackle touting" by overseeing "complex supporter escalations, investigations and appeals".
Concerns over incentive scheme
Concerns were raised about the advert because it outlines that the new hire will be included in the club's annual incentive scheme, which fans feared would be contingent on processing a high turnover of appeals, or defending sanction decisions against appeals.
However, United sources have confirmed that whoever is hired for the role will be included in the club's annual incentive scheme as all other employees are, and that the bonus scheme is not specific to the role.
Backlash over summer ticketing operation
The job advert has drawn attention due to the strength of feeling among supporters following the club's operation to address ticket touting over the summer.
United attempted to crack down on touts, but a blanket approach was taken, meaning hundreds of fans who were innocent of wrongdoing had to prove they were not touts.
The fiasco brought together the various United fan groups, who took the unprecedented step of releasing a joint statement condemning the operation and demanding transparency from the club.
Investigation update and protests
In September, United published an update on their investigation, announcing that 685 fans had been stripped of their season tickets, while 464 fans had been sanctioned or warned.
The club said they had "broken up large-scale organised networks", but United fans protested before the Manchester derby, with supporter group The 1958 declaring that 'a line had been crossed'.
