At a highly sensitive time for Manchester United, their Portuguese captain, Bruno Fernandes, found himself in the midst of an unexpected online storm. The club officially announced yesterday (Monday) that his official Twitter account had been hacked, following the posting of a series of tweets containing direct attacks and scathing criticism of the club's owners. This prompted swift intervention from the management to clarify the situation and contain the crisis.
Incendiary publications against "Ineos"
The story began when the Portuguese star's more than 4.5 million followers were surprised by a strange post on Sunday directly targeting INEOS. The post included the explicit statement, "Let's get rid of INEOS," referring to the global chemicals company owned by British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe. The post garnered over 84,000 views in record time before being deleted, sparking widespread speculation and questions among fans about whether it represented the player's true opinion or was simply a security breach.
The context of ownership and administrative tension
To understand the dimensions of this cyberattack, one must consider the administrative context of Manchester United. The company Ineos, led by Jim Ratcliffe, recently acquired a minority stake in the club but assumed full responsibility for managing its football and sporting operations. These changes come at a time when fans are anticipating a tangible improvement in the team's performance and administrative structure after years of criticism directed at the Glazer family. Therefore, any post by the team captain attacking the new management is considered fertile ground for igniting a crisis, which explains the club's swift move to deny the player's involvement in those posts.
Sensitive timing and a sporting crisis
The timing of the hack was anything but ordinary; it was meant to add fuel to the fire, coinciding with a period of widespread fan frustration following Manchester United's FA Cup exit after a third-round defeat to Brighton. This loss wasn't just a temporary setback; it deepened the team's wounds and increased the pressure on the manager and players. In such a charged atmosphere, fans are more susceptible to believing in internal divisions, a sentiment the hacker exploited to create a media frenzy.
Official warnings and security measures
In an attempt to control the situation, Manchester United's official account issued a brief statement confirming that the posts in no way reflect Bruno Fernandes's views. The club issued a strong warning to fans and followers to ignore any content or private messages that may appear on the account during this period, indicating that work is underway to regain full control of the account and secure it to ensure that such incidents, which distract the team at a crucial stage of the season, do not recur.
