MANCHESTER UNITED HAVE reported The Sun to the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), accusing the publication of knowing about the attack on Ed Woodward’s home last month in advance.
United’s executive vice-chairman had his house in Cheshire targeted by a group wearing balaclavas on January 28, with flares thrown onto the property and graffiti spray-painted onto the front gate and intercom.
A video was posted by the perpetrators on social media which was captioned “Ed Woodward’s gonna die.”
United believe that The Sun received prior notice of the attack, and have accused a journalist from the company of being present to document the vandalism as the incident took place.
The club has released an official statement on Friday, which reads: “Manchester United has made a formal complaint to the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso) regarding the Sun newspaper and its coverage of the attack on the house of executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward.
“The complaint relates to the story ‘Ed Devils: Man Utd fans throw flares at Ed Woodward’s house in shocking scenes as anti-board protests continue to escalate’ carried online and on the back page of the print edition dated 29 January 2020.
“The club believes that the Sun had received advance notice of the intended attack, which included criminal damage and intent to intimidate, and that the journalist was present as it happened.
“The quality of the images accompanying the story indicate that a photographer was also present. Not only did the journalist fail to discharge the basic duty of a responsible member of society to report an impending crime and avert potential danger and criminal damage, his presence both encouraged and rewarded the perpetrators.
We believe this was a clear breach of both the Ipso editors’ code and journalistic ethics. The decision to make a formal complaint to Ipso was not taken lightly. We will await its ruling with keen interest as an important test of the self-regulatory system for newspapers and its ability to uphold ethical standards in the press.”
Woodward and his family were not at home at the time of the attack, which saw the frustrations of United supporters unhappy with how the club is being run taken to extreme new levels. Threatening chants were directed towards the United chief during the team’s 6-0 FA Cup fourth-round win over Tranmere on 26 January.
