Leinster Senior League club Ballybrack FC have issued a statement in response to the news that they faked one of their player's deaths. The club had told the Leinster Senior League that their player, Fernando Nuno La-Fuenta had died in a traffic accident last Thursday and the side subsequently had their match against Arklow postponed.
However it has since come to light that Fernando has not gone up to join the choir invisible, rather he moved back to Spain and has a full bill of health.
Here is the club's statement statement in full:
In response to recent events and the information which is currently in circulation across social and mainstream media.
It has come to the attention of both the club, senior players and the management team that a gross error of judgement has occurred emanating from correspondence sent from a member of the senior set up management team to the Leinster Senior League.
As of this evening an emergency meeting was held and the person in question has been relieved of all footballing duties, within Ballybrack FC, its senior team and roles within the club itself. The club has contacted Fernando to confirm his whereabouts, wellbeing and are thankful for his acceptance of our apology on this matter.
This grave and unacceptable mistake was completely out of character and was made by a person who has been experiencing severe personal difficulties unbeknownst to any other members of the club. The club will continue to provide a duty of care to all parties and offer the support that may be needed at this time. This person had previously contributed greatly to the senior team within the club in recent years and to the wider footballing community across Dublin for decades.
At this stage we can only offer our sincere apologies to the Leinster Senior League, our opponents Arklow Town FC and the host of clubs and football people who made contact with us or offered messages of support in recent days.
The past few years has seen good progress made in regards to renewal of senior football in the Ballybrack area. We are all taken aback by this event and hope to try work with all relevant organisations and agencies to learn from this mistake.
Signed:
Ballybrack Senior Football Team
