Manchester United ban four media outlets for reporting fake news

Manchester United Football Club have confirmed that four media outlets were banned from covering the team's pre-match press conference against Chelsea.

The club decided to axe these media outlets after the report that there was unrest in the dressing room of the club after the disappointing result against Galatasaray and Newcastle United. The result was the club's 10th defeat of the 2023-24 campaign in all competitions, which is the club's worst start to a season since their relegation to the second tier back in the 1973-74 season.

What happened?

The Manchester Evening News, ESPN, the Mirror and Sky Sports were all barred from Tuesday's press conference after publishing the stories that the club has declared as fake news. Some reported that some of the players were upset with the way Erik Ten Hag handled Jadon Sancho while the rest reported that some of the players were not happy with Erik Ten Hag's tactics.

The club released a statement confirming that the decision to ban the media houses from attending their presser was because they did not give them the benefit of responding to the news making the media about the unrest in the dressing room.

"We are taking action against a number of news organisations today, 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."

Manchester United face Chelsea in the next league game at Old Trafford, it is yet to be seen if the banned media houses will be allowed to attend the post-match press conference.