Liverpool bans tabloid from Anfield and Melwood

Almost three decades after the Hillsborough tragedy, Liverpool have taken a decision to refuse admission to reporters from The Sun newspaper to any of the clubs premises, including Anfield stadium and their Melwood training complex. The club says the policy has been enforced with immediate effect but has not elaborated further on the decision. It means that employees from The Sun will not be able to apply from accreditation for any events held on Liverpool Football Club premises.

Last summer, coach Jürgen Klopp refused to answer a question from a Sun reporter during a pre-match press conference. A couple of days later, the tabloid ran with a story about one of Klopp’s players.

But the aversion to the newspaper on Merseyside goes back to their coverage of the Hillsborough disaster in April 1989 and in particular, the edition published four days after the tragedy on Wednesday 19 and its vindictive headline ‘The Truth’. The cover story featured allegations of ‘fans urinating on brave cops’ and ‘picking the pockets of victims’ – contrary to all of the television footage from that day. Later, the paper later had to admit that the claims were totally fabricated and eventually, in September 2012, the Sun ‘unreservedly’ apologized for ‘the blackest day’ in their history. But that came way too late for many on Merseyside, where the paper has been boycotted since 1989.

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Permission granted

Liverpool had to be granted permission from Premier League, giving them the right to reject accredication requests from Sun reporters.

The newspaper issued a statement which read: “The Sun deeply regrets its reporting of the tragic events at Hillsborough and understands the damage caused by those reports is still felt by many in the city. A new generation of journalists on the paper congratulate the families on the hard fought victory they have achieved through the inquest. It is to their credit that the truth has emerged and, whilst we can’t undo the damage done, we would like to further a dialogue with the city and to show that the paper has respect for the people of Liverpool.”

Verdict

In April last year, following a lengthy court case, a jury delivered the verdict that the 96 victims of the Hillsborough disaster had been unlawfully killed.