Dublin football club Ballybrack FC is blaming a rogue member of its management team, for pretending a player had been killed in a car crash in order to get a match postponed.
The club is facing disciplinary action.
In a statement, Ballybrack FC said the person responsible for the false claim made a "gross error of judgement" and has been relieved of all duties at the club.
The official contacted the Leinster Senior League without the club's knowledge in order to get a match against Arklow Town postponed.
The player himself, Fernando Nuno La Fuente, knew nothing of the plan and was in his native Spain at the time.
Ballybrack FC has made contact with the player, who has accepted an apology.
The Leinster Senior League says it will be dealing with the matter through its disciplinary procedures.
Ballybrack Fc
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
The club statement reads: "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."