Irish soccer team apologizes after faking death of its own player
An Irish soccer team has apologized after faking the death of its own player. Ballybrack FC apologized to its fans Tuesday after the team told the league one of its players had died Friday.
The team reportedly told the Leinster Senior League that one its players, Fernando Nuno La Fuente, had died. The team’s game against Arklow Town, which was slated to take place Saturday, was cancelled as a result of the news.
The league even held a moment of silence for La Fuente during games the entire weekend, according to the Irish Times.
La Fuente, however, wasn’t dead. After doing some digging, the league became suspicious, chairman David Moran told RTÉ Sport.
“We were told he was flown back to Spain on the Saturday. Straight away, that rang alarm bells for us. How would you die early on Friday morning and be flown back to Spain on the Saturday?
“It started to unravel then. We rang and we couldn’t get any answers out of them (the club).
“We checked the hospitals, we checked everywhere. Nobody could find anything about this young fella. Obviously, some of his teammates released stuff on social media saying he went back to Spain four weeks ago.”
The league does not believe this was an honest mistake, either. The Leinster Senior League thinks Ballybrack FC made the announcement to get out of Saturday’s game. Moran called that move “extreme” and “ridiculous.”
The league has launched an investigation into the matter.
In its apology statement, Ballybrack FC said a person with the team “who has been experiencing severe personal difficulties unbeknownst to any other members of the club” was responsible for telling the league La Fuente had died. That person has been relieved of their duties, according to the team.
(Yahoo Sports Soccer H/N: Deadspin)
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
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