The Times has been forced to uncomfortably admit that a news story regarding the creation of a new football league in the Middle East was a hoax – one that hit the printing presses well ahead of the information’s disingenuousness being detected.

The supposed Qatar-based “Dream Football League” was reported as apparently offering massive financial incentives to tempt the likes of Manchester United, other top Premier League sides and a whole host of other teams around the world, to join; football editor Tony Evans has since called the decision to run with the story a “journalistic nightmare”.

An internal investigation by the paper’s ombudsman eventually highlighted how the story was implausible, and that it was based on an unreliable source that did not meet important pre-publication checks. Indeed, a French satirical website claimed the report was made-up – though it was not clarified if the same organisation had created the story themselves.

Saying that he had missed warning signs regarding the story’s truthfulness ahead of publication, Mr Evans told the press that the story “appears to have been invented”, though “had just enough plausibility to be seductive”. As with any printed media, it pays to check your facts before going to the rollers!