Credit: X
Manchester United have banned the Manchester Evening News (MEN) from a press conference on Tuesday, December 5, over one of their stories about manager Erik ten Hag. Apart from the Manchester Evening News, three other media organisations got banned from Erik ten Hag’s press conference before their midweek Premier League match against Chelsea at the Old Trafford.
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Sam Luckhurst, the MEN journalist, wasn’t allowed to attend the press conference for their multiply-sourced story titled “Erik ten Hag losing confidence of Manchester United players over tactics and signings.” The three other journalists, not able to be a part of Erik ten Hag’s presser, were Kaveh Solhekhol of the Sky Sports, David McDonnell of the Mirror, and Rob Dawson of the ESPN.
The MEN reported that they were notified of the ban by the Communications Director of Manchester United, Andrew Ward, who is a regular part of the press conferences of Erik ten Hag. In 2019, he joined the English football club as the Head of Corporate and Commercial Communications.
Manchester United want opport unity to respond to stories published about them
Fabrizio Romano, the Italian sports journalist, took to his official X account to state that Manchester United have taken action against media organisations for publishing stories without giving them the opportunity to respond about them.
His post read, “Manchester United confirmed that the club had “taken action against several media organisations, not for publishing stories we don't like, but for doing so without first contacting us to give us the opportunity to comment, challenge or contextualize”.”
