There have been plenty of cases of media outlets reporting a death that didn’t happen, including famously with Mark Twain in the late 19th century (although his actual response was just “The report of my death was an exaggeration“). The latest case of this is with prominent Italian soccer agent Mino Raiola, and it’s happened to him at least twice in the last few months. On Thursday, a report that Raiola had died appeared to start in Italian media, and then was picked up by a lot of verified accounts. Here are some examples of that:
.@tancredipalmeri, a Twitter verified journalist for @beINSPORTS_EN and @CNN, tweeted that Mino Raiola has died. This is apparently untrue. He has since deleted the tweet.
Reporting someone is dead when they aren't is grounds for never being allowed to work in journalism again. pic.twitter.com/5Q0zlr9oTF
— Andrew O'Brien (@aobrien7) April 28, 2022
BREAKING: Football agent Mino Raiola has died, following an illness.
Raiola was the agent of Paul Pogba and Erling Haaland.
(TalkSPORT) pic.twitter.com/FQmnTqNcnc
— Footy Accumulators (@FootyAccums) April 28, 2022
Some accounts even put together tribute graphics:
Football agent Mino Raiola has passed away. May he rest in peace. pic.twitter.com/6hJSF4PjQS
— Roy Nemer (@RoyNemer) April 28, 2022
Several newspapers initially reported that Raoila was dead, too, including Spain’s Marca:
Dice @marca que ha resucitado!??? @MinoRaiola #Raiola pic.twitter.com/L8lFh6eCyN
— José Luis Llanero (@jose_llanva) April 28, 2022
And even official club accounts like Real Madrid put out tributes before later deleting when they found Raiola wasn’t dead.
And Mino Raiola is trending again, it looks as if teams like real Madrid really wanted Mino's death to happen and wat are dey waiting for? delete the tweet ASAP ????? pic.twitter.com/y2JagFjFGW
— future lecturer (@LouisMarfo7) April 28, 2022
Raoila’s prominent list of clients throughout European soccer meant his “death” was big news in multiple countries. Which led to a lot of reports in different languages that he’d died, followed by corrections that he hadn’t. Here’s how one Dutch outlet handled that:
Update: José Fortes Rodriguez, de rechterhand van de zaakwaarnemer, laat aan de NOS weten dat Raiola niet is overleden. "Hij ligt slecht, maar is niet overleden." https://t.co/GnFhK1Fwnq
— NOS Voetbal (@NOSvoetbal) April 28, 2022
“Is niet overleden” does sound cooler than “isn’t dead.” But yes, Rodriguez (who works with Raiola) confirmed that while Raiola is sick, he has not passed away. And Raiola himself followed that up with a tweet.
Current health status for the ones wondering: pissed off second time in 4 months they kill me. Seem also able to ressuscitate.
— Mino Raiola (@MinoRaiola) April 28, 2022
Meanwhile, at least one doctor at the hospital where Raoila is being treated isn’t happy with the press here:
Dr. Alberto Zangrillo from San Raffaele Hospital in Milano tells Ansa on Mino Raiola conditions: “I’m outraged by the phone calls from pseudo-journalists speculating on the life of a man who is fighting to survive”.
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) April 28, 2022
We send our best wishes to Raiola. And promise not to add to the list of people prematurely reporting his death.
[Mino Raiola on Twitter]
