The Irish football team is sorry to have falsely announced the death of a player

A death notice from a football player was published in a local newspaper. A game has been postponed. The league teams observed a minute of silence.

The football clubs of the Leinster Senior League of Ireland have gathered this weekend to pay tribute to a player suspected of being killed in a road accident last week.

It turned out that it was a big mistake.

The amateur club of Ballybrack FC is excused for a "blatant misjudgment" after falsely announcing the death of one of its players, Fernando Nuno La Fuente, on Thursday.

The Fuente is actually still alive, the team said.

"This serious and unacceptable error was completely false and was committed by a person who is experiencing serious personal difficulties without the knowledge of any other member of the club," Ballybrack said in a statement posted on his Facebook page.

The club said the person in question had been fired after an emergency meeting.

The league has presented its "most sincere apology for any distress caused by the notification to the clubs of the disappearance of a valuable player".

Ballybrack, a team based in Dublin, postponed Saturday's match against Arklow Town, while other teams in the league observed a minute of silence in the honor of La Fuente.

David Moran, president of the league, said that the story was beginning to be revealed after investigations had been conducted regarding assistance to La Fuente's family.

"We were told that he had been repatriated to Spain on Saturday, and immediately it sounded the alarm," Moran told the Irish channel RTE. "We checked the hospitals, we checked everywhere, nobody found anything about this young man."

Moran said that some friends from La Fuente said that he had gone to Spain four weeks earlier.

"The club has contacted Fernando to confirm his location and his well-being," said Ballybrack, "and (is) grateful to have accepted our apologies for this case."

– AP