diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index 631c223..7be0f01 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 Package: impectR
 Title: Access Data from the 'Impect' API
-Version: 2.5.1
+Version: 2.5.2
 Authors@R: c(
   person("Impect", "GmbH", , "info.impect@impect.com", role = c("cph")),
   person("Florian", "Schmitt", , "florian.schmitt@impect.com", role = c("aut", "cre")),
diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index cbd7e38..d5a1900 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -1,3 +1,13 @@
+# impectR 2.5.2
+
+## Minor Changes
+* fix bugs in the following functions that occured if either the coaches endpoint returned no coaches or the coaches endpoint being blacklisted for the user:
+  * `getEvents()`
+  * `getPlayerMatchSums()`
+  * `getSquadMatchSums()`
+  * `getPlayerMatchScores()`
+  * `getSquadMatchScores()`
+
 # impectR 2.5.1
 
 ## Minor Changes
diff --git a/R/getEvents.R b/R/getEvents.R
index ac60b5f..5a91a78 100644
--- a/R/getEvents.R
+++ b/R/getEvents.R
@@ -262,35 +262,50 @@ getEvents <- function (
     gsub("\\.(.)", "\\U\\1", base::names(squads), perl = TRUE)
 
   # get coach master data from API
+  coaches_blacklisted = FALSE
   coaches <-
     purrr::map_df(
       iterations,
       ~ {
-        response <- jsonlite::fromJSON(
-          httr::content(
-            .callAPIlimited(
-              host,
-              base_url = "/v5/customerapi/iterations/",
-              id = .,
-              suffix = "/coaches",
-              token = token
-            ),
-            "text",
-            encoding = "UTF-8"
+        response <- .callAPIlimited(
+            host,
+            base_url = "/v5/customerapi/iterations/",
+            id = .,
+            suffix = "/coaches",
+            token = token,
+            ignore_403 = TRUE
           )
-        )$data
 
-        if (base::length(response) > 0) {
-          response <- response %>%
-            jsonlite::flatten()
-        } else {
-          response <- base::data.frame(
-            id = -1,
-            name = "",
-            stringsAsFactors = FALSE
-          )
+        # check status
+          status <- httr::status_code(response)
+
+          if (status == 403) {
+            coaches_blacklisted <<- TRUE
+
+            # insert empty df as response
+            response <- base::data.frame(
+              id = -1,
+              name = "",
+              stringsAsFactors = FALSE
+            )
+          } else {
+            response <- jsonlite::fromJSON(
+              httr::content(response, "text", encoding = "UTF-8")
+            )$data
+
+            # flatten response
+            if (base::length(response) > 0) {
+              response <- response %>%
+                jsonlite::flatten()
+            } else {
+              response <- base::data.frame(
+                id = -1,
+                name = "",
+                stringsAsFactors = FALSE
+              )
+            }
+          }
         }
-      }
     ) %>%
     dplyr::select(.data$id, .data$name) %>%
     base::unique()
@@ -344,7 +359,7 @@ getEvents <- function (
       by = base::c("currentAttackingSquadId" = "squadId")
     )
 
-  # merge events with matchInfo & coaches
+  # merge events with matchInfo
   events <- events %>%
     dplyr::left_join(
       dplyr::select(
@@ -354,24 +369,29 @@ getEvents <- function (
         .data$awayCoachId
       ),
       by = base::c("matchId" = "matchId")
-    ) %>%
-    dplyr::left_join(
-      dplyr::select(
-        coaches,
-        homeCoachId = .data$id,
-        homeCoachName = .data$name
-      ),
-      by = base::c("homeCoachId" = "homeCoachId")
-    ) %>%
-    dplyr::left_join(
-      dplyr::select(
-        coaches,
-        awayCoachId = .data$id,
-        awayCoachName = .data$name
-      ),
-      by = base::c("awayCoachId" = "awayCoachId")
     )
 
+  # merge events with coaches
+  if (coaches_blacklisted == FALSE) {
+    events <- events %>%
+      dplyr::left_join(
+        dplyr::select(
+          coaches,
+          homeCoachId = .data$id,
+          homeCoachName = .data$name
+        ),
+        by = base::c("homeCoachId" = "homeCoachId")
+      ) %>%
+      dplyr::left_join(
+        dplyr::select(
+          coaches,
+          awayCoachId = .data$id,
+          awayCoachName = .data$name
+        ),
+        by = base::c("awayCoachId" = "awayCoachId")
+      )
+  }
+
   # merge events with players
   events <- events %>%
     dplyr::left_join(
@@ -632,6 +652,13 @@ getEvents <- function (
     order <- base::c(order, kpis$name)
   }
 
+  # check if coaches are blacklisted
+  if (coaches_blacklisted) {
+    order <- order[!order %in% c(
+      "homeCoachId", "homeCoachName", "awayCoachId", "awayCoachName"
+      )]
+  }
+
   # reorder data
   events <- events %>%
     dplyr::select(dplyr::all_of(order))
diff --git a/R/getPlayerMatchScores.R b/R/getPlayerMatchScores.R
index 76064e5..404fbe1 100644
--- a/R/getPlayerMatchScores.R
+++ b/R/getPlayerMatchScores.R
@@ -238,49 +238,53 @@ getPlayerMatchScores <- function (
     base::unique()
 
   # get coach master data from API
-
-  # get coach master data from API
+  coaches_blacklisted = FALSE
   coaches <-
     purrr::map_df(
       iterations,
       ~ {
-        response <- jsonlite::fromJSON(
-          httr::content(
-            .callAPIlimited(
-              host,
-              base_url = "/v5/customerapi/iterations/",
-              id = .,
-              suffix = "/coaches",
-              token = token
-            ),
-            "text",
-            encoding = "UTF-8"
-          )
-        )$data
+        response <- .callAPIlimited(
+          host,
+          base_url = "/v5/customerapi/iterations/",
+          id = .,
+          suffix = "/coaches",
+          token = token,
+          ignore_403 = TRUE
+        )
 
-        if (base::length(response) > 0) {
-          response <- response %>%
-            jsonlite::flatten()
-        } else {
+        # check status
+        status <- httr::status_code(response)
+
+        if (status == 403) {
+          coaches_blacklisted <<- TRUE
+
+          # insert empty df as response
           response <- base::data.frame(
             id = -1,
             name = "",
             stringsAsFactors = FALSE
           )
+        } else {
+          response <- jsonlite::fromJSON(
+            httr::content(response, "text", encoding = "UTF-8")
+          )$data
+
+          # flatten response
+          if (base::length(response) > 0) {
+            response <- response %>%
+              jsonlite::flatten()
+          } else {
+            response <- base::data.frame(
+              id = -1,
+              name = "",
+              stringsAsFactors = FALSE
+            )
+          }
         }
       }
-    )
-  if (base::length(coaches) > 0) {
-    coaches <- coaches %>%
-      dplyr::select(.data$id, .data$name) %>%
-      base::unique()
-  } else {
-    coaches <- coaches %>%
-      dplyr::mutate(
-        id = NA,
-        name = NA
-      )
-  }
+    ) %>%
+    dplyr::select(.data$id, .data$name) %>%
+    base::unique()
 
   # get kpi names from API
   score_list <- jsonlite::fromJSON(
@@ -471,19 +475,24 @@ getPlayerMatchScores <- function (
       ),
       by = base::c("matchId" = "matchId", "squadId" = "squadId")
     ) %>%
-    dplyr::left_join(
-      dplyr::select(
-        coaches,
-        coachId = .data$id,
-        coachName = .data$name
-      ),
-      by = base::c("coachId" = "coachId")
-    ) %>%
     # fix some column names
     dplyr::rename(
       dateTime = .data$scheduledDate
     )
 
+  # merge events with coaches
+  if (coaches_blacklisted == FALSE) {
+    scores <- scores %>%
+      dplyr::left_join(
+        dplyr::select(
+          coaches,
+          coachId = .data$id,
+          coachName = .data$name
+        ),
+        by = base::c("coachId" = "coachId")
+      )
+  }
+
   # define column order
   order <- c(
     "matchId",
@@ -519,6 +528,11 @@ getPlayerMatchScores <- function (
     order[order == "positions"] <- "position"
   }
 
+  # check if coaches are blacklisted
+  if (coaches_blacklisted) {
+    order <- order[!order %in% c("coachId", "coachName")]
+  }
+
   # select columns
   scores <- scores %>%
     dplyr::select(dplyr::all_of(order))
diff --git a/R/getPlayerMatchsums.R b/R/getPlayerMatchsums.R
index a141558..0b76be6 100644
--- a/R/getPlayerMatchsums.R
+++ b/R/getPlayerMatchsums.R
@@ -173,33 +173,48 @@ getPlayerMatchsums <- function (
     base::unique()
 
   # get coach master data from API
+  coaches_blacklisted = FALSE
   coaches <-
     purrr::map_df(
       iterations,
       ~ {
-          response <- jsonlite::fromJSON(
-          httr::content(
-            .callAPIlimited(
-              host,
-              base_url = "/v5/customerapi/iterations/",
-              id = .,
-              suffix = "/coaches",
-              token = token
-            ),
-            "text",
-            encoding = "UTF-8"
-          )
-        )$data
+        response <- .callAPIlimited(
+          host,
+          base_url = "/v5/customerapi/iterations/",
+          id = .,
+          suffix = "/coaches",
+          token = token,
+          ignore_403 = TRUE
+        )
 
-        if (base::length(response) > 0) {
-          response <- response %>%
-            jsonlite::flatten()
-        } else {
+        # check status
+        status <- httr::status_code(response)
+
+        if (status == 403) {
+          coaches_blacklisted <<- TRUE
+
+          # insert empty df as response
           response <- base::data.frame(
             id = -1,
             name = "",
             stringsAsFactors = FALSE
           )
+        } else {
+          response <- jsonlite::fromJSON(
+            httr::content(response, "text", encoding = "UTF-8")
+          )$data
+
+          # flatten response
+          if (base::length(response) > 0) {
+            response <- response %>%
+              jsonlite::flatten()
+          } else {
+            response <- base::data.frame(
+              id = -1,
+              name = "",
+              stringsAsFactors = FALSE
+            )
+          }
         }
       }
     ) %>%
@@ -331,19 +346,24 @@ getPlayerMatchsums <- function (
       ),
       by = base::c("matchId" = "matchId", "squadId" = "squadId")
     ) %>%
-    dplyr::left_join(
-      dplyr::select(
-        coaches,
-        coachId = .data$id,
-        coachName = .data$name
-      ),
-      by = base::c("coachId" = "coachId")
-    ) %>%
     # fix some column names
     dplyr::rename(
       dateTime = .data$scheduledDate
     )
 
+  # merge events with coaches
+  if (coaches_blacklisted == FALSE) {
+    matchsums <- matchsums %>%
+      dplyr::left_join(
+        dplyr::select(
+          coaches,
+          coachId = .data$id,
+          coachName = .data$name
+        ),
+        by = base::c("coachId" = "coachId")
+      )
+  }
+
   # define column order
   order <- c(
     "matchId",
@@ -375,6 +395,11 @@ getPlayerMatchsums <- function (
     kpis$name
   )
 
+  # check if coaches are blacklisted
+  if (coaches_blacklisted) {
+    order <- order[!order %in% c("coachId", "coachName")]
+  }
+
   # select columns
   matchsums <- matchsums %>%
     dplyr::select(dplyr::all_of(order))
diff --git a/R/getSquadMatchScores.R b/R/getSquadMatchScores.R
index 422a50b..a01b1b8 100644
--- a/R/getSquadMatchScores.R
+++ b/R/getSquadMatchScores.R
@@ -147,33 +147,48 @@ getSquadMatchScores <- function (
   squads <- .cleanData(squads)
 
   # get coach master data from API
+  coaches_blacklisted = FALSE
   coaches <-
     purrr::map_df(
       iterations,
       ~ {
-        response <- jsonlite::fromJSON(
-          httr::content(
-            .callAPIlimited(
-              host,
-              base_url = "/v5/customerapi/iterations/",
-              id = .,
-              suffix = "/coaches",
-              token = token
-            ),
-            "text",
-            encoding = "UTF-8"
-          )
-        )$data
+        response <- .callAPIlimited(
+          host,
+          base_url = "/v5/customerapi/iterations/",
+          id = .,
+          suffix = "/coaches",
+          token = token,
+          ignore_403 = TRUE
+        )
 
-        if (base::length(response) > 0) {
-          response <- response %>%
-            jsonlite::flatten()
-        } else {
+        # check status
+        status <- httr::status_code(response)
+
+        if (status == 403) {
+          coaches_blacklisted <<- TRUE
+
+          # insert empty df as response
           response <- base::data.frame(
             id = -1,
             name = "",
             stringsAsFactors = FALSE
           )
+        } else {
+          response <- jsonlite::fromJSON(
+            httr::content(response, "text", encoding = "UTF-8")
+          )$data
+
+          # flatten response
+          if (base::length(response) > 0) {
+            response <- response %>%
+              jsonlite::flatten()
+          } else {
+            response <- base::data.frame(
+              id = -1,
+              name = "",
+              stringsAsFactors = FALSE
+            )
+          }
         }
       }
     ) %>%
@@ -297,19 +312,24 @@ getSquadMatchScores <- function (
       ),
       by = base::c("matchId" = "matchId", "squadId" = "squadId")
     ) %>%
-    dplyr::left_join(
-      dplyr::select(
-        coaches,
-        coachId = .data$id,
-        coachName = .data$name
-      ),
-      by = base::c("coachId" = "coachId")
-    ) %>%
     # fix some column names
     dplyr::rename(
       dateTime = .data$scheduledDate
     )
 
+  # merge events with coaches
+  if (coaches_blacklisted == FALSE) {
+    scores <- scores %>%
+      dplyr::left_join(
+        dplyr::select(
+          coaches,
+          coachId = .data$id,
+          coachName = .data$name
+        ),
+        by = base::c("coachId" = "coachId")
+      )
+  }
+
   # define column order
   order <- c(
     "matchId",
@@ -331,6 +351,11 @@ getSquadMatchScores <- function (
     scores_list$name
   )
 
+  # check if coaches are blacklisted
+  if (coaches_blacklisted) {
+    order <- order[!order %in% c("coachId", "coachName")]
+  }
+
   # select columns
   scores <- scores %>%
     dplyr::select(dplyr::all_of(order))
diff --git a/R/getSquadMatchsums.R b/R/getSquadMatchsums.R
index 8d924fb..2368d99 100644
--- a/R/getSquadMatchsums.R
+++ b/R/getSquadMatchsums.R
@@ -147,33 +147,48 @@ getSquadMatchsums <- function (
   squads <- .cleanData(squads)
 
   # get coach master data from API
+  coaches_blacklisted = FALSE
   coaches <-
     purrr::map_df(
       iterations,
       ~ {
-        response <- jsonlite::fromJSON(
-          httr::content(
-            .callAPIlimited(
-              host,
-              base_url = "/v5/customerapi/iterations/",
-              id = .,
-              suffix = "/coaches",
-              token = token
-            ),
-            "text",
-            encoding = "UTF-8"
-          )
-        )$data
+        response <- .callAPIlimited(
+          host,
+          base_url = "/v5/customerapi/iterations/",
+          id = .,
+          suffix = "/coaches",
+          token = token,
+          ignore_403 = TRUE
+        )
 
-        if (base::length(response) > 0) {
-          response <- response %>%
-            jsonlite::flatten()
-        } else {
+        # check status
+        status <- httr::status_code(response)
+
+        if (status == 403) {
+          coaches_blacklisted <<- TRUE
+
+          # insert empty df as response
           response <- base::data.frame(
             id = -1,
             name = "",
             stringsAsFactors = FALSE
           )
+        } else {
+          response <- jsonlite::fromJSON(
+            httr::content(response, "text", encoding = "UTF-8")
+          )$data
+
+          # flatten response
+          if (base::length(response) > 0) {
+            response <- response %>%
+              jsonlite::flatten()
+          } else {
+            response <- base::data.frame(
+              id = -1,
+              name = "",
+              stringsAsFactors = FALSE
+            )
+          }
         }
       }
     ) %>%
@@ -297,19 +312,24 @@ getSquadMatchsums <- function (
       ),
       by = base::c("matchId" = "matchId", "squadId" = "squadId")
     ) %>%
-    dplyr::left_join(
-      dplyr::select(
-        coaches,
-        coachId = .data$id,
-        coachName = .data$name
-      ),
-      by = base::c("coachId" = "coachId")
-    ) %>%
     # fix some column names
     dplyr::rename(
       dateTime = .data$scheduledDate,
     )
 
+  # merge events with coaches
+  if (coaches_blacklisted == FALSE) {
+    matchsums <- matchsums %>%
+      dplyr::left_join(
+        dplyr::select(
+          coaches,
+          coachId = .data$id,
+          coachName = .data$name
+        ),
+        by = base::c("coachId" = "coachId")
+      )
+  }
+
   # define column order
   order <- c(
     "matchId",
@@ -331,6 +351,11 @@ getSquadMatchsums <- function (
     kpis$name
   )
 
+  # check if coaches are blacklisted
+  if (coaches_blacklisted) {
+    order <- order[!order %in% c("coachId", "coachName")]
+  }
+
   # select columns
   matchsums <- matchsums %>%
     dplyr::select(dplyr::all_of(order))
diff --git a/R/utils.R b/R/utils.R
index bdb853c..a61adf2 100644
--- a/R/utils.R
+++ b/R/utils.R
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 #'
 #' @return Response content of the API endpoint
 .callAPI <- function(host, base_url, id = "", suffix = "", token,
-                     max_retries = 3, retry_delay = 1) {
+                     max_retries = 3, retry_delay = 1, ignore_403 = FALSE) {
 
   # try API call
   for (i in 1:max_retries) {
@@ -33,14 +33,26 @@
       base::message(base::paste("Received status code 429 (", message,
                 "), retrying in", retry_delay, "seconds...\n"))
       Sys.sleep(retry_delay)
-    } else if (httr::status_code(response) %in% c(401, 403)) {
-      # handle unauthorized or forbidden (401 or 403 status codes)
+    } else if (httr::status_code(response) == 401) {
+      # handle unauthorized (401 status codes)
       message <- dplyr::coalesce(
         httr::content(response, "parsed")$message,
         "Unauthorized"
       )
       stop(base::paste("Received status code", httr::status_code(response),
-                 "(", message, ")"))
+                       "(", message, ")"))
+    } else if (httr::status_code(response) == 403) {
+      if (ignore_403 == FALSE) {
+        # handle forbidden (403 status codes)
+        message <- dplyr::coalesce(
+          httr::content(response, "parsed")$message,
+          "No access to requested resource"
+        )
+        stop(base::paste("Received status code", httr::status_code(response),
+                         "(", message, ")"))
+      } else {
+        return(response)
+      }
     } else {
       # handle other errors
       message <- dplyr::coalesce(
@@ -67,13 +79,15 @@
 #' @param token bearer token
 #'
 #' @return a dataframe containing the response of an API endpoint
-.callAPIlimited <- function(host, base_url, id = "", suffix = "", token) {
+.callAPIlimited <- function(host, base_url, id = "", suffix = "",
+                            token, ignore_403 = FALSE) {
 
   # check if Token bucket exist and create it if not
   if (is.null(.api_state$bucket)) {
 
     # get response from API
-    response <- .callAPI(host, base_url, id, suffix, token)
+    response <- .callAPI(host, base_url, id, suffix, token,
+                         ignore_403 = ignore_403)
 
     # get rate limit policy
     policy <- response[["all_headers"]][[1]][["headers"]][["ratelimit-policy"]]
@@ -102,7 +116,8 @@
   # check if a token is available
   if (.api_state$bucket$isTokenAvailable()) {
     # get API response
-    response <- .callAPI(host, base_url, id, suffix, token)
+    response <- .callAPI(host, base_url, id, suffix, token,
+                         ignore_403 = ignore_403)
 
     # consume a token
     .api_state$bucket$consumeToken()
@@ -111,7 +126,8 @@
     Sys.sleep(.api_state$bucket$intervall)
 
     # call function again
-    response <- .callAPIlimited(host, base_url, id, suffix, token)
+    response <- .callAPIlimited(host, base_url, id, suffix, token,
+                                ignore_403 = ignore_403)
   }
 
   # return response
diff --git a/README.Rmd b/README.Rmd
index 2a97244..a825039 100644
--- a/README.Rmd
+++ b/README.Rmd
@@ -21,9 +21,9 @@ knitr::opts_chunk$set(
 
 A package provided by: Impect GmbH
 
-Version: v2.5.1
+Version: v2.5.2
 
-**Updated: October 15th 2025**
+**Updated: October 17th 2025**
 
 ---
 
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ You can also install it from [GitHub](https://github.com/) with:
 
 ```r
 # install.packages("devtools")
-devtools::install_github("ImpectAPI/impectR@v2.5.1")
+devtools::install_github("ImpectAPI/impectR@v2.5.2")
 ```
 
 ## Usage
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 360fa12..fb2ac15 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -9,9 +9,9 @@
 
 A package provided by: Impect GmbH
 
-Version: v2.5.1
+Version: v2.5.2
 
-**Updated: October 15th 2025**
+**Updated: October 17th 2025**
 
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ You can also install it from [GitHub](https://github.com/) with:
 
 ``` r
 # install.packages("devtools")
-devtools::install_github("ImpectAPI/impectR@v2.5.1")
+devtools::install_github("ImpectAPI/impectR@v2.5.2")
 ```
 
 ## Usage