Manchester United’s owners, the Glazer family, will receive no dividends from the club from now on.
The custodians of the English club made the decision to withdraw the dividends that come out of the club through a unanimous decision of the board of directors, which is mostly made up of the Glazer brothers.
This decision comes as United’s financial problems are going from bad to worse, amid the club’s partial or full sale.
United invested more than £200m in the team last summer. The club’s latest quarterly disclosures show a significant decline in cash levels at a staggering £96.9m.
This has caused a disposition of the lines of credit that the 20-time English champions can access.
The Athletic reports on this development: “The change comes after Joel Glazer was questioned on the issue during a United fan advisory board (FAB) meeting in October. The justification for dividends was a major topic during those conversations.”
“Glazer was asked why money was paid to shareholders from club funds even as the team had their worst season since the Premier League was formed and United as a company made a loss of £115.5 million ($130 millions)”.
“£33.6m worth of dividends were taken from United during 2021-22, with the Glazers keeping most of that money as major shareholders. This happened at the same time as United withdrew a further £40m of available overdrafts, adding to the club’s debt burden.
The Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST), which recently issued an ultimatum to potential bidders for United, reacted to the news, reveling in the fact that the Glazers had opted out of dividends.
MUST stated that paying dividends is tantamount to rewarding failure and that these amounts should not be doled out until the issue of future ownership and new investment remain unresolved.
United fans will no doubt be pleased that the club’s parasitic owners have not cashed in for the first time in years. However, the underlying problem is that the club from the outside seems to be going through a tumultuous financial situation.
For many supporters, the most desirable solution would be for the Glazers to finally sell up and leave.
