iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Representatives for an Irish soccer team have apologized after faking the death of one of its former players.
Public broadcaster RTE reported that a representative of the team, Ballybrack FC, falsely told the Leinster Senior Football League that Fernando LaFuente — who was until recently on the squad — had perished in a “traffic accident” last week.
The league subsequently postponed Ballybrack’s game on Saturday — and even held a moment of silence for LaFuente, who, it should be said, is very much alive.
LaFuente, who now works for a software company, told RTE, “I was home yesterday after my work finished. I was playing some video games. … [My colleagues] started sending me all these news articles and mass media. And that’s how I found out I was dead.”
Ballybrack apologized on Facebook, calling the announcement, “a gross error of judgement…made by a person who has been experiencing severe personal difficulties unbeknownst to any other members of the club.”
The team added, “the person in question has been relieved of all footballing duties.”
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