http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8652_2542758,00.html
MEDIA FALLS FOR PALACIO PRANK
The international media has been tricked by a group of Boca Juniors
fans in a scheme cooked up on a internet blog.
In scenes reminiscent of 2005's 'Chris Musampa' hoax - which made
its way onto the pages of the Daily Mirror, and eventually Match Of
The Day, journalists have been caught out by am apparently entirely
fictional story.
Boca supporters spammed various Arsenal forums with rumours that
the Gunners were interested in Argentinian Rodrigo Palacio, a
striker who has scored 39 goals in 79 appearances for Boca and has
won five caps for his country.
'Palacio, 25, will fly into London tomorrow after Boca accepted the
Gunners' offer' announced the Daily Telegraph, who along with The
Independent published the story on Tuesday. They were far from
alone - the BBC, the Daily Mirror and Daily Mail all ran the
news.
The Sun were amongst the hardest stung within the British media,
announcing on Monday that 'all obstacles have been removed after
Arsenal came in with a record-breaking offer.'
By Tuesday morning, the story had been repeated in newspapers as
far afield as Argentina, Japan and Spain.
