Found: NZF ‘bogus article’ author

New Zealand Football has identified the person who made it appear as if its chief executive had resigned.

On Friday afternoon, an article with the headline ‘‘Andy Martin resigns as CEO’’, appeared to have been posted on the governing body’s website.

It was quickly confirmed as fake, with board chairman Deryck Shaw telling Stuff he understood the website had been hacked

In a statement on Tuesday, NZ Football said the article ‘‘was not a hack of its website but rather the illusion of a bogus article’’.

‘‘The news story – which suggested that Andy Martin had resigned from his position as chief executive – was fabricated by a person who made the bogus article appear as if it was from New Zealand Football’s website to anyone who followed their specific URL.

‘‘Since the article was not published on the NZF website, people could not find this article by visiting the NZF site. They needed to follow or be sent the bogus URL.

‘‘Reports that the New Zealand Football website had been ‘hacked’ are incorrect.

‘‘The governing body, who have been working with website provider Sportsground to create a new digital platform for the country’s largest sport in 2018, take the issue of website integrity very seriously,’’ the statement said.

‘‘New Zealand Football and Sportsground have investigated the incident and identified the potential offender.’’