The hoax tweet was removed seconds later, but screenshots were already taken and circulated, according to the Daily News.
“We regret the earlier tweet and offer our apologies to those that were offended,” a FOX Sports statement said. “Clearly we were hacked.”
The hoax tweet went out on Fox Sports Latin America’s official handle, @FOXSports_norte. Over 250,000 followers received news saying (in Spanish): “We must report the sad news that Leonel Messi died of cardiac arrest during training #RipMessi.”
The FC Barcelona star is very much alive and well. He is in Argentina training with the national team ahead of its FIFA World Cup qualifier against Ecuador on June 2. This story offers further proof that you shouldn’t believe everything you see or hear on Twitter.
Have a question for Marcus Kwesi O’Mard? Send it to him via Twitter at @NESNsoccer, NESN Soccer’s Facebook page or send it here. He will pick a few questions to answer every week for his mailbag.
