High-profile journalists banned from Man United press conference over misreporting

In a decisive move on Tuesday, December 5, 2023, Manchester United took action against several prominent news organisations, barring entry to their pre-match press conference with manager Erik ten Hag.

The ban extended to high-profile journalists, including Sky Sports chief reporter Kaveh Solekhol, Samuel Luckhurst from the Manchester Evening News, David McDonnell of The Mirror and Rob Dawson from ESPN. The club's decision was rooted in its dissatisfaction with the reporting practices of these outlets, particularly their failure to seek the club's comments before publishing stories.

A statement released by the club clarified their stance, stating, "We are taking action against a number of news organisations. Not for publishing stories we don't like, but for doing so without contacting us first to give us the opportunity to comment, challenge or contextualise. We believe this is an important principle to defend, and we hope it can lead to a re-set in the way we work together."

The catalyst for the ban was a series of reports on Monday concerning the challenges met by Ten Hag in keeping the support of his players. These stories, emerging after a 1-0 defeat to Newcastle United, suggested that the manager was struggling to retain the backing of key players and that a faction within the first-team squad was growing disillusioned.

🗣️ "We are on a journey, on a road." 👊🛣️

Watch Erik's press conference in full ahead of #MUNCHE ⤵️#MUFC || #PL

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) December 5, 2023

Addressing the exclusion of reporters from the press conference, Ten Hag emphasised the importance of open communication saying, "They should have come to us first and not gone behind our back printing articles. That is not the right thing to do. We have a good relationship; they come to us beforehand, and we have a debate about it."

In response to the reports of discontent within the squad, Ten Hag affirmed his commitment to listening to the players' perspectives.

"I listen always to my players, and I give them always opportunities to tell. If the players have a different opinion, of course, I will listen," he stated. "But they haven't told me. Or maybe one or two. But it is about, in general, the majority; they want to play like this—proactive, dynamic, brave, that is what they want."