Spreen made a brief professional debut on Monday (Picture: TNT Sports)
Deportivo Riestra, a team in the top flight of Argentinian football, has been slammed for fielding an influencer in their starting XI as part of a marketing stunt.
Riestra picked Ivan Buhajeruk, better known as Spreen, in their team to play Velez Sarsfield on Monday in a Liga Profesional Argentina match.
The 24-year-old lasted just 50 seconds on the pitch and did not touch the ball before being subbed off for Gustavo Fernandez.
The Spreen selection was all part of a marketing stunt from Victor Stinfale, who owns both the club and its main sponsor, energy drink Speed Unlimited.
The popular streamer boasts 5.4m followers on Instagram and 5.9m on X, while the club itself have just 103,000 and 15,800 on those platforms respectively, Spreen also has over 8m subscribers on YouTube.
However, the gimic was not appreciated by players in Argentina, with Velez striker Braian Romero hitting out at the ‘lack of respect’ involved.
“What happened today was a lack of respect for football, it is a wrong message to society, to kids who try hard,’ said Romero after scoring in the 1-1 draw.
Riestra picked up a 1-1 draw in the controversial match (Picture: Deportivo Riestra)
‘Football is not that, it is trying and failing and trying again.’
Argentina legend, and former Manchester United and Chelsea midfielder, Juan Sebastian Veron wrote on Instagram: ‘A total lack of respect for football and footballers.’
The club was obviously happy with the results of the stunt, reposting a string of stats from journalist Germán García Grova.
These stats on Spreen’s debut included 159m Twitter impressions, 42m on Instagram, 55m on TikTok and 1m views on YouTube.
Riestra’s manager, Cristian Fabbiani, said he had told Velez boss Gustavo Quinteros about the situation before the match.
‘I told him that he was going to play due to a contract issue, that the club depends a lot on publicity,’ said Fabbiani.
Related Posts:
- Newsom uses a stunt to position himself as a leader of the anti-Trump resistance News Two days after the nation’s voters gave Donald Trump another term as president, Gov. Gavin Newsom staged a publicity stunt to position California — and presumably himself — as the epicenter of resistance. Newsom called a special session of the Legislature, to run concurrently with the regular legislative session that begins…
- Man Utd slammed for selling burnt pie at Old Trafford as sickened fans say ‘fitting for the season they’re having’ Sports MANCHESTER UNITED fans have been used to half-baked performances this season. This time they got a performance at full heat on the pitch – but a burnt pie off it that was as dark as any display under Erik ten Hag. Supporters responded with scorching comments to this grim fare GettyBruno…
- Enzo Maresca slammed for ‘tying down’ Chelsea star during Arsenal draw Sports Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea drew 1-1 with Arsenal at Stamford Bridge (Picture: Getty) Glenn Hoddle has questioned Enzo Maresca’s set-up against Arsenal, suggesting it inhibited Chelsea’s main attacking threat Cole Palmer. The Blues, searching for their first Premier League win against Arsenal since 2021, went behind to Gabriel Martinelli’s second-half strike…
- Michael Strahan Slammed On Veteran’s Day Over National Anthem Controversy Entertainment If you want more proof that America is more divided than ever, look no further than Michael Strahan. Despite reports of friction at Good Morning America, Michael Strahan’s career as a TV journalist continues going strong. However, on Veteran’s Day, he found himself pooled together with the likes of Colin…
- First I’m A Celebrity stars land in Australia after flight chaos days before launch Entertainment I’m A Celebrity 2024 is just days away! (Picture: REX) It’s all getting very real for the cast of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, as the 2024 stars have started arriving Down Under. This time next week, we’ll be gearing up for the return of Ant McPartlin…
(Visited 1 times, 1 visits today)