Industry Odisha Bureau, Jun 20: While the FIFA World Cup is on, the death rumour of Argentine football star Lionel Messi’s father Jorge Horacio Messi reportedly went viral following which the Messi family had to promptly issue a public statement debunking the report to be false, while, on the other hand, the host reportedly quit the job, and crew members of the Argentina TV news channel were sacked from their jobs for televising such a fake news.
International media reported that, Argentina’s popular news channel “Luzu TV host Florencia Pena had announced that Messi’s father Jorge Messi had died for which the footballer Lionel Messi would not participate in the upcoming matches on the ongoing FIFA World Cup.”
Soon after the Messi family reportedly issued a clarification that “Jorge was under medical supervision and also recuperating”, Luzu TV host Florencia Pena reportedly issued an apologetic statement and blamed the news crew member for misguiding her.
Luzu TV host Florencia Pena reportedly posted on social media in Spanish: “I apologise to the Messi family for the awful moment I imagine they are going through,” Pena wrote on social media in Spanish. “I am deeply ashamed to have been the vehicle for this pain. I must clarify that this false information was provided to me during the live broadcast as verified by the production team of the show, and I trusted it.
Even so, I take responsibility for being part of the mistake, and that’s why I decided to step aside and end my participation in Luzu. I apologise again from the heart; I was wrong.”
Angentina TV news channel Luzu also reportedly issued an apologetic statement in Spanish saying: “We deeply regret the incident that occurred on air during the programme. For our channel, broadcasting sensitive information without proper prior verification is unacceptable. Consequently, Luzu TV management has decided to part ways with all those responsible, and Florencia Peña has decided to step aside. We reaffirm our commitment to responsible, respectful, and rigorous communication.”
As per international media reports, “68-year-old Jorge Horacio Messi is not only father of Lionel Messi, but also his son’s coach at local club Grandoli and groomed up his talent long before the Ballon d’Or awards and World Cup triumphs, and also the most influential figure in his son’s professional football life.”
