As known from:
nytimes logousatoday logotheguardian logo
VA
Contains commercial content
Home > Soccernet Reported Hazard to United, Then Admitted They’d Been Duped

Soccernet Reported Hazard to United, Then Admitted They’d Been Duped

Carl M
Carl M
Publish Date: February 27, 2023
Fact checked by: Chris A

Soccernet Reported Hazard to United, Then Admitted They’d Been Duped

Modern football journalism, boys and girls, consists of repeating things, often with the word “BREAKING” in front of them, first reported by someone else. Sometimes, this policy of “break it first, ask questions only if found to be egregiously wrong” has hilarious consequences. This time, it’s ESPN Soccernet that fell for a bunch of nonsense; but hey, at least they owned up to it.

Speculation over Belgian striker Eden Hazard’s destination has been rampant over the last few days. Hazard was supposed to announce where (in England) he’s headed after Lille’s last game of the season, only to tease everyone by refusing to commit. This means that, because the games are all over and there’s nothing else to do, every soccer news site on the planet is looking to be the first to report on Hazard’s landing place.

Enter rnanutd.com (that’s an “r” and an “n” in the beginning there), a fake Manchester United official page put together by people who desperately need to find themselves a hobby (I suggest origami). After rnanutd.com “reported” that Hazard had signed with United, the ESPNSoccernet Twitter account announced it with the ubiquitous “BREAKING NEWS” tag.

The original tweet has since been deleted, but thousands of people naturally retweeted it.

Wow! Didnt see that coming RT @ESPNSoccernet BREAKING NEWS: Manchester United have signed Eden Hazard from Lille for an undisclosed. #mufc

— Dave Yem (@NotSoSpecial1) May 21, 2012

Admittedly, rnanutd.com is an exact copy of manutd.com, down to live links that go to the actual club site. When whoever at Soccernet saw the page, they failed to catch the subtle “rn” for “m” substitution, and ran with the story to Twitter.

After realizing the mistake and taking down the incorrect tweet, Soccernet outed themselves.

We hold our hands up. We got duped. By this: rnanutd.com/en/News-And-Fe… twitter.com/ESPNSoccernet/…

— ESPN Soccernet (@ESPNSoccernet) May 21, 2012

Which is admirable, even if it doesn’t change the fact that a news-gathering organization of that magnitude shouldn’t be making the mistake in the first place. Even if it looks like Manchester United is announcing the news of Hazard’s signing themselves, corroborating the information should be standard operating procedure.

 

Read Also
Greatest UFC Fighters of All Time
Please note that the text you provided contains grammatical errors and lacks ...
Travis Kelce’s New Girlfriend – Are the Rumors About Taylor Swift True?
No concrete evidence is available, but according to a source who spoke ...
BetMGM Promo
Unveiling the Mystery: Who is Jayson Tatum’s Wife?
Jayson Tatum's name, the professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics in ...
Tom Brady’s New Girlfriend Irina Shayk – The NFL Star’s Words About Irina
Tom Brady appears to be taking his new relationship with Irina Shayk ...
Teams With the Toughest Schedules In the 2023 NFL Season
The NFL has officially released its schedule for the 2023 season. As ...
Latest News
Cleveland Browns Deshaun Watson, the Transformation, the Conduct, and the Arr...
Deshaun Watson, a quarterback for the Cleveland Browns, ...
Conor McGregor’s Net Worth
Conor McGregor, the renowned Irish fighter, has become ...
Greatest UFC Fighters of All Time
Please note that the text you provided contains ...
Travis Kelce’s New Girlfriend – Are the Rumors About Taylor Swift True?
No concrete evidence is available, but according to ...
Greatest boxers of all time (Achievements Compared)
When it comes to discussing the best boxers ...
Our Team
Jimmy FCarl MKristoffer BZane HarrisChris A
Jimmy F
Jimmy F
Editor
Carl M
Carl M
Editor in Chief
Kristoffer B
Kristoffer B
Editor
Zane Harris
Zane Harris
Sports Editor
Chris A
Chris A
Developer/Data Analyst

Players must be 21 years of age or older or reach the minimum age for gambling in their respective state and located in jurisdictions where online gambling is legal. Please play responsibly. Bet with your head, not over it. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, and wants help, call or visit: (a) the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey at 1-800-Gambler or www.800gambler.org; or (b) Gamblers Anonymous at 855-2-CALL-GA or www.gamblersanonymous.org.

This site is using Cloudflare and adheres to the Google Safe Browsing Program. We adapted Google's Privacy Guidelines to keep your data safe at all times.

21+NCPG
Move to Top
×
Your Bonus Code:
The bonus offer was already opened in an additional window. If not, you can open it also by clicking the following link:
Visit Site