A TV host covering the World Cup has quit after she made an egregiously false report about Lionel Messi.
Florencia Pena has opted to step down from hosting El Show del Verano on Luzu TV on Thursday. She has since claimed that she was given false information, leading her to the outrageous claim.
‘I have to clarify that this false information was given to me live on air as if it had been checked by the show’s production team, and I trusted it,’ she revealed through an Instagram story before announcing she would be leaving the show.
The TV host suffered monumental amounts of backlash from the star footballer’s family after she claimed that Messi’s father had died just two days after Argentina’s opening victory against Algeria.
‘I don’t want to break bad news, but Messi’s father just died … Right in the middle of the World Cup, he’s going to have to leave,’ Pena falsely told her viewers during the broadcast.
The footballer’s family have since stressed that while Messi’s father, Jorge, has been battling with an undisclosed health issue, he is in fact not dead.
‘He is currently under medical supervision, recovering, and progressing favourably within his current condition,’ they explained in a statement, according to ESPN.
The family continued: ‘Given the versions, rumours, and speculation that have circulated in recent hours, the family wishes to express its deep displeasure at the lack of sensitivity, respect, and scruples with which some people have treated a strictly private...
A TV host covering the World Cup has quit after she made an egregiously false report about Lionel Messi. Florencia Pena has opted to step down from hosting El Show del Verano on Luzu TV on Thursda...