Man United Ban a String of High-profile Journalists From Erik ten Hag's Press Conferences

Manchester United have banned several high-profile journalists from attending Erik ten Hag's press conference on Tuesday.

Sky Sports chief reporter Kaveh Solekhol, the Manchester Evening News' chief United correspondent Samuel Luckhurst, The Mirror's David McDonnell and Rob Dawson of ESPN have all been refused entry to the media briefing at their Carrington training base ahead of Wednesday's game against Chelsea.

The order came from Andrew Ward, United's communications director, over what United claimed was the reporters' failure to contact the club for comment before publication.

United confirmed they had 'taken action against several 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 club added. 

It is not clear whether the ban is just for today's press conference, with Ten Hag due to address the media at 1:30pm, or for all future briefings with the manager until further notice.

According to the MEN, Ward, who joined the club in 2019, has previously stopped reporters from putting questions to Ten Hag because of perceived negative coverage. Mail Sport has approached Ward for comment.