The FULL story of how Fernando ended up ‘dead’
Ballybrack manager ‘killed off’ Fernando in a ‘moment of madness’
THE Ballybrack FC manager who allegedly faked a player’s death had hatched the plan last Friday after his players told him they were off on a stag weekend, it has emerged.
The Leinster Senior League club made international headlines after it faked the death of Spanish player, Fernando Lafuente Saiz, to get out of a match by claiming he had died in a car crash.
The Irish Daily Mail was the only media outlet to speak to Mr Lafuente Saiz when the story broke on Tuesday – and he confirmed that he was alive and well and living in Galway. Speaking to The Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk, yesterday morning, he referenced yesterday’s Irish Daily Mail front page, remarking: ‘I am alive and kicking like the newspapers said.’
He heard news of his apparent death from the CEO of his employers, US-based company, Glofox, which has a base in Galway. He remarked: ‘I was all day working with my colleague, he [the CEO] rang me and said: “Man, you’re all over the newspapers”. That’s how I found out,’ he told The Pat Kenny Show.
The Irish Daily Mail can now reveal that the manager faked Mr Lafuente Saiz’s death after his players informed him last Thursday that they were going away on a stag weekend and he did not have enough players.
Sources close to Ballybrack FC last night told the Mail: ‘The manager was told last Thursday night at training that he would be down a lot of players for the weekend match. One of the lads is getting married and a number of the lads were heading down the country for the weekend. The manager sat in the club house thinking about losing the three points and didn’t know what to do.
‘He slept on it and on Friday morning, shortly after 7am, he had an idea of saying one of the former players had been killed in a car crash. In a moment of madness, he rang up the manager of the other team and told him of the death. He then told the lads in a WhatsApp message that they could enjoy the weekend, that he had sorted the match and he would see them for training next week,’ added the source.
The Mail understands that the manager has spoken to Mr Lafuente Saiz, who has accepted his apology. ‘He [the manager] is absolutely mortified at the international storm. He was genuinely thinking of his club and wanting to win, it just got out of hand and he fully accepts it was wrong of him to say that the player died. These things happen and nobody actually died, so we all want to move on from this,’ the source added.
Representatives of Ballybrack FC are due to meet tomorrow night with the FAI and the chairmen of the Leinster Senior League. Following an emergency meeting, the club said that the person responsible has been suspended and relieved of all duties.