Barcelona were the victims of hacking on Tuesday night after the club’s twitter account falsely announced Angel di Maria had signed for the Catalan giants.
Hacked! Barcelona Twitter account “announces” signing of Angel Di Maria https://t.co/YQhbBbf8cfpic.twitter.com/2z3USrEEyO
— Goal UK (@GoalUK) August 23, 2017
The tweet was soon uncovered as a hoax when ‘OurMine’, a security company, admitted to the hacking, saying:
“Hi FC Barcelona, it’s OurMine (Security Group), please contact us – ourmine.org -> Contact Us, and sorry for the hoax.”
The club swiftly reacted, deleting the tweets before later writing:
“Our accounts have been hacked tonight. We’re working to solve the problem as soon as possible. Thanks for your patience.”
Our accounts have been hacked tonight.
We’re working to solve the problem as soon as possible.
Thanks for your patience.— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) August 23, 2017
Sky Sports say the group have hacked numerous celebrity accounts in the past.
Renowned Spanish football journalist Guillem Balague claimed on Monday that Barcelona were interested in di Maria, after withdrawing their interest for Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho.
Barcelona are still searching for a replacement for Neymar after he left for PSG in a world-record deal, per Sky Sports.
Boss Ernesto Valverde is said to be also interested in Nice’s Jean Seri, according to The Express and Borussia Dortmund’s Ousmane Dembele, also per The Express
In other news, Barcelona are planning to sue Neymar for not ‘fulfilling his contract’, so say goal.com.
Neymar criticised the Blaugrana board yesterday, stating they “should not be in charge”.
Another few twists in what has been a hectic summer for the Copa Del Rey holders.