Irish soccer club Ballybrack FC found themselves in a bizarre predicament after they lied to league officials about the death of one of their players, in a strange move that resulted in their weekend match being canceled.

The Dublin club told Leinster Senior League officials that Fernando Nuno La-Fuente died in a motorcycle accident. La-Fuente’s death resulted in Ballybrack’s Saturday game against Arklow Town getting postponed, while other teams around the league paid tribute to his death by wearing black armbands and holding a minute of silence honoring the player.

But tales of La-Fuente’s death started to become suspicious when league officials began to seek out his family members to offer their condolences. That’s when they started getting some confusing answers, including a lie that his body had been flown to Spain weeks ago.

“We checked the hospitals, everywhere,” Leinster Senior League chairman David Moran said, via RTE Sport. “Nobody could find anything about this young fella. Some of his teammates [then] released stuff on social media, saying he went back to Spain four weeks ago.”

The league soon learned that La-Feunte had indeed returned home a few weeks prior, alive and well.

“We don’t honestly know why they did it. It seems a bit extreme to do something like that to get a game off,” said Moran. “All they had to say was they were giving a walkover and they’ll get their fine and that’s the end of it.

“It’s very extreme to get a game off. We acted in good faith. We had a minute silence at the weekend for that young lad. It’s absolutely ridiculous.”

In a statement, the league said the club had killed off La-Fuente “without foundation” and there would be discipline to come.

Ballybrack soon issued its own statement, saying the “gross mistake” was made by someone at the club who has been “experiencing severe personal difficulties.”