A Charlton Athletic fan has told reporters the club is been run like North Korea after he was told he will only receive his season ticket if he agrees to sign a social media ‘Agreed Behavioural Contract’ (ABC).
The fan, who has held a season ticket for 13 years, was sent a letter by the club’s new agency liaison and duty safety officer telling him that his season ticket would only be released if he agreed to stop bad mouthing the club on social networks.
The stated: “As a club we have listened to and acted upon some of the concerns raised by the supporters during the closed season. We have identified however that certain comments placed on social media websites by yourself have been not particularly constructive.
“Whilst we recognize [sic] that everyone is entitled to their own personal opinion it is not helpful when inflammatory comments are posted on such websites.”
“I need to advise you that the granting of your season ticket will be ‘conditioned’ and subject to you signing an ‘Agreed Behavioral [sic] Contract’ (ABC) which will request that you refrain from posting derogatory or inflammatory comments regarding the Club or people representing the club in the future on any social media websites, or carrying out any other form of behavior that could be deemed to be on an anti-social nature.”
If this letter is real, Charlton Athletic may have just taken a dangerous step towards losing even more fans…?? pic.twitter.com/p4PfG9PAAi
— Copa90 (@Copa90) August 12, 2016
The fan, who does not want to be named for fear of being banned by the club, said the club are trying to “bully anyone who says anything negative about them”, adding that “it’s like the club is being run by a dictator like in North Korea”.