Supporters of a local Colombian soccer team took to the streets after having been duped into believing that their team had won the national championship, local media reported on Tuesday.
Fans of the Junior Barranquilla soccer team were conned by a false twitter statement that said their team were the victors in last week’s championship due to a technicality, according to La Semana magazine.
Several fraudsters invented an elaborate hoax claiming that the Major League Soccer organization (Dimayor) had stripped Atletico Nacional of their title for having too many men on the field during the second half of the championship game.
The jokers went even further and concocted a story that Junior’s president, Fuad Char, had confirmed the false story on Twitter despite the fact that he doesn’t even have a Twitter account.
The story was so convincing that another Twitter account specializing in soccer with over 32,000 followers called “Todo Sobre Futbol” (All About Soccer) took the story as gospel and ran with it.
As a result, thousands of fans took the streets of Barranquilla on Monday night with loud-speakers, whistles, and confetti in celebration of their team’s alleged “victory.”
Miren celebración y que Junior Campeón jaja eyyyy averiguen primero vale pic.twitter.com/Iy2ot7wu8Y
— ❤SOY DE JUNIOR❤ (@liduispetulante) May 27, 2014
A video was also uploaded on youtube depicting the mass celebration, which included a caravan of livid of supporters reeling with pride.
The euphoria only lasted about two hours; however, when everyone realized that they had been duped, but that didn’t stop fans from staying out until the early hours on Tuesday.
MORE: Nacional wins Colombia’s soccer championship in final shoot-out
Colombia’s championship soccer match between Atletico Nacional and Junior took place last Wednesday with Nacional being the clear winners.