During the buildup for the much-awaited Manchester Derby, Man City‘s in-house media team fell for a well-crafted ruse by a fan on Twitter.
In the second reported incident of its kind, a club displayed a tweet by a fan featuring TikTok star Hasbulla, with a narrative suggesting that the Russian is attending a football game for the first time.
The first case occurred during Sheffield Wednesday’s pre game coverage, and Man City’s blunder now follows suit.
THE BEST THING IVE SEEN TODAY 😂😂😂
OMG !!
Someone sent in a #Hasbulla meme to Sheffield Wednesdays pitch side introducer & they posted it on the big screen
For the uninitiated, Hasbulla Magamedov is a TikTok star, who rose to fame after posting videos in which he pretends to fight children.
Often dubbed as ‘Mini Khabib’ (reference to Khabib Nurmagomedov) due to a similar demeanor, the 19-year-old suffers from growth deficiency and could easily be mistaken for a 5-year-old as a result of his child-like physical features.
And that very fact provides the ploy of the ruse, as his child-like appearance along with the suggestion that it’s his first game, can lead many to believe that the tale is in fact true.
But we assure you, the claims hold no weight, and the tweet Man City’s media team fell for included the caption ‘Little man’s first Derby today, smiles not gone away all day, cmon Blues’.
Football clubs being duped by fan messages for Hasbullah will never stop being funny pic.twitter.com/5ugmSkN8C4
Considering how easily media teams fall for it, its safe to assume that Man City won’t be the last victims of the prank, and fans will eagerly await the next one.
