Bruno unleashed harsh criticism and demanded INEOS be removed; Manchester United scrambled to clarify before posting a bombshell image of their 7-0 loss to Liverpool.
On 12 Jan 2026 GMT+7, following the case where Bruno Fernandes, captain of Manchester United with over 4.5 million followers on X (formerly Twitter), posted numerous inappropriate messages, including an attack saying “Let's get rid of INEOS,” along with a scoreboard image from Anfield showing Liverpool thrashing Manchester United 7-0 in March 2023. This happened after the FA Cup third-round match where the "Red Devils" lost 1-2 to Brighton and were eliminated.
The first post stated, “Joined Macclesfield FC, excited for the future,” referencing Macclesfield Town, a level-6 division team that recently knocked out the defending champions Crystal Palace on Saturday.
Another post read, “In the end, I will always be a winner, no matter what,” accompanied by a money bag emoji.
Subsequently, several obscene and inappropriate posts were shared, including derogatory remarks about female footballer Alicia Lehmann and famous influencer KSI.
However, the most viewed post referenced the club's ownership structure, stating “Let's get rid of INEOS.”
INEOS is the company of Sir Jim Ratcliffe, a minority shareholder of the club and responsible for football management.
Many fans questioned these posts, prompting Manchester United's official account to clarify: “Bruno Fernandes' X account was hacked. Fans should not engage with any posts or private messages.”
The hackers shared these messages further, replying: “Everyone, beware of being hacked.”
After about 15 minutes of silence, fans hoped the account was recovered, but a new post appeared: “Isn’t this fun?” Four minutes later, an image of the Anfield scoreboard showing Liverpool's 7-0 thrashing of Manchester United in March 2023 was posted.
Another surprising post was a reply to Manchester United’s 18-year-old rising star Che Lescay, who received a red card in the Brighton match. Lescay had apologized, saying: “I want to apologize to my teammates, staff, and all fans. I let everyone down tonight. I shouldn't have let emotions override reason and will do everything to make it right.”
Bruno’s account replied: “Just don’t do it again, mate.” The account continued posting and replying to fans until after midnight, while officials worked urgently to recover it.