Manchester United employees have been warned by the chief executive, Omar Berrada, that they are committing “gross misconduct” if they leak confidential information, with staff potentially losing their jobs if found guilty of doing so.
Berrada sent an email, which has been seen by the Guardian, to all staff on Monday and indicated the club has launched an investigation into leaks.
Berrada stated: “Anyone disclosing information outside of the club is breaching their obligations of confidentiality, and we are very clear that this will be considered gross misconduct. To protect the club and its colleagues, additional measures are being put in place to prevent future breaches of confidentiality and also identify any persons responsible.”
With morale low at the club, the Guardian has been told that the email has not been received positively by some employees who are concerned about losing their positions due to Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s decision to make up to another 200 redundancies.
Last week, the Guardian reported that United are to slash their scouting department, which currently has about 80 staff, and will have a meeting with all employees on Monday to clarify any questions about the state of the club.
Berrada referenced this in the email. He said: “In the meantime we will continue to keep you informed at the earliest opportunity of both the challenges we face and the steps we continue to take as we move the club forward and work towards Project 150 [a 21st title in 2028, the club’s 150th anniversary]. As mentioned in Redlines [a company email] on Friday we will hold a Team Briefing on Monday 24 February to talk to you further.”
