Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag could be the subject of a UEFA probe after he was late to his Champions League press conference on Tuesday. Newcastle also broke the rule on Monday night after their flight to Italy was delayed earlier in the afternoon.
United are set to face Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday night as they look to kick off their European campaign in the right way. However, the Red Devils failed to get off on the right foot and appeared to break UEFA rules regarding timings.
Ten Hag was scheduled to speak to the media at 7.45pm (German time) but was over 25 minutes late, not appearing until approximately 8.12pm. Although a 27 minute delay is not unusual in England, it holds more weight in Europe.
UEFA rules stipulate that teams must hold their pre-match press conferences between 12pm and 8pm local time the day before a match is played. Therefore, Ten Hag’s arrival was 12 minutes beyond the deadline.
It remains to be seen whether UEFA decide to clamp down on the matter given that the Dutch boss, joined by goalkeeper Andre Onana, was in good spirits when entertaining questions about injury problems within his squad as well as the decision to pursue Rasmus Hojlund rather than Harry Kane, who went on to join Bayern.
Ten Hag was not quizzed on his punctuality by the press, though one would imagine that he would have shared a similar message to Eddie Howe given that he was asked about the matter having arrived late to the San Siro on Monday. The Magpies boss was unfazed in his reply, insisting that a storm meant that was to blame rather than his squad.
It’s just part and parcel of the job that we do. It’s not out of the normal that that can happen. This was a weather problem, but we’ve been in similar situations. It’s something we’re used to, although it’s a slightly later arrival time than we would have liked for the players. It’s no big deal, though.”
The Newcastle boss said: “It’s just part and parcel of the job that we do. It’s not out of the normal that that can happen. This was a weather problem, but we’ve been in similar situations. It’s something we’re used to, although it’s a slightly later arrival time than we would have liked for the players. It’s no big deal, though.”
Newcastle’s delay did not impact their preparation for their match against AC Milan after they played out a 0-0 draw against the Serie A giants, in what will be seen as a good point to kick off their campaign with away from home. United will be hoping to go one better though and a victory against Bayern would significantly boost morale following their 3-1 loss at the hands of Brighton over the weekend.
