Wenslus Murape
ENGLAND football star Phil Foden has called in lawyers after sick internet trolls falsely claimed one of his children had died and another has cancer.
The father of three has enlisted an army of legal specialists in a bid to take down hoax stories and images from several social media platforms.
Manchester City midfielder Phil’s partner Rebecca Cooke, 24, has even been forced to address the issue — going online to slam the articles as “sickening”.
The first lies popped up on Facebook with incorrect claims that the couple’s eldest son Ronnie, aged six, had died.
More recently, a post by a troll calling themself Man City Fan Lover made up a false “confession” by 25-year-old Phil about daughter True, four — saying: “My Little Girl has Cancer.”
Several of the hoax stories feature fake AI images showing Phil and Rebecca appearing to cry together.
The sheer number of the made-up articles means that the words “Phil Foden” were trending on social media sites and even in Google searches.
Rebecca said in her Instagram post that the couple — who are engaged and have a third child, Phil Jnr — have been inundated with queries and messages regarding the health of their family.
She wrote: “We are aware of the pages and accounts spreading these stories.
“ They are completely false and very disturbing.
“I don’t understand how people can make up these things about anyone, especially children. It’s sickening.
“We are all absolutely fine thank god & thank you for all your concerns we are doing everything we can to stop them.”
“Please report any posts or pages you come across sharing these false stories.”—Sun
Online Reporter