Manchester United Fires Back After Hackers Hijack Bruno Fernandes's X Account to Attack INEOS Ownership
Manchester United have verified that Bruno Fernandes's X profile was compromised, quickly addressing a string of controversial social media messages that appeared on the club captain's account on Sunday night.
Following Fernandes and his United colleagues being eliminated from the FA Cup third round by Brighton & Hove Albion, some peculiar activity started appearing under the Portuguese midfielder's name.
"Let's remove INEOS" was among the inflammatory messages targeting the club's minority ownership group. Newly crowned Darts World Champion and devoted Manchester United supporter, Luke Littler, was invited to a FIFA match while Cristiano Ronaldo and content creator KSI also received inappropriate references.
United issued a statement on the same social platform confirming that Fernandes had been compromised and urging fans to "avoid interacting with any of the posts or direct messages." The affected player account immediately responded, vowing to "share the information."
Fernandes's profile has now been recovered to display that his most recent official post was in October, marking his 300th club appearance. Though the situation was resolved fairly quickly, it represented another embarrassing incident in a campaign filled with disappointments for the Red Devils.
Man Utd Drop to 111-Year Low Against Brighton
United's lackluster performance against Brighton at Old Trafford wasn't even their most disappointing cup exit of the campaign. Following their shocking Carabao Cup second round defeat to fourth-division Grimsby Town, the Red Devils have been eliminated from both domestic cup tournaments at the first hurdle for the first time since 1981–82.
One must look back to 1914–15 to locate the previous occasion Manchester United contested as few as 40 matches across all tournaments in a single campaign. That season arguably shouldn't have continued as long considering the start of the First World War. United might have preferred it hadn't.
The Red Devils concluded with a dismal 18th position in the 20-team division, escaping relegation only because just the bottom side faced demotion that year as the English top division was restructured to accommodate 22 teams following the Great War.
The contemporary feeling of organizational dysfunction was equally present then—though with a more troubling element.
United only avoided last place ahead of Tottenham Hotspur by two points secured in a 2–0 victory over Liverpool on Good Friday, 1915. It was subsequently revealed that the match had been manipulated and resulted in lifetime suspensions for eight players from both teams.
Despite all the turmoil surrounding the current United squad, conditions aren't quite as severe as match-fixing and relegation yet. Actually, regardless of the board's actions, the manager-less team sits seventh in the Premier League, just one point behind fifth-placed Brentford which could secure Champions League participation.