He faked his grandmothers death so he could be with his girlfriend. Former Irish footballer Stephen Ireland shocked the world years ago with a series of lies

The year was 2007, and now former Irish footballer Stephen Ireland committed a truly unprecedented lie. What exactly was it and what prompted him to do it?

The Irish footballer, who at the time was defending the colours of Manchester City, tried to avoid a national team reunion in a way that is unprecedented in the world.

In 2007, he was due to take part in a match against the Czech Republic during the national break. Ireland apologised to the coach, citing the death of his grandmother as the reason. But what was the real reason? It was his girlfriend who felt alone.

But it doesn’t end there. Stephen later tried to apologize for his club duties as well. He asked his coach at the time, Sven-Goran Eriksson, for an extended leave of absence and release from club duties. He said he was still grieving and had to help with the funeral.

However, journalists have discovered that Ireland made up the whole story, his grandmother is still alive and very shocked by her death, which she read about in the newspapers. So Irish had to improvise and change the story. According to his later statement, there was a misunderstanding and his paternal grandmother died.

Unsurprisingly, she too was left in a state of astonishment when she also read about her death in the newspapers. Her family even filed a criminal complaint against the newspaper publisher.

But the story doesn’t end there either, as Ireland changed his story for the third time. According to the last attempted lie, it was his grandfather’s former wife, whom he divorced.

“I have to tell the truth and admit that I lied. I realise it was a huge mistake to say my grandmothers died and I regret it very much,” he said at the time, according to The Guardian.

“It was wrong and I sincerely apologise for all the trouble I caused many people. I would like to apologise to my grandmothers and all my family,” the former footballer added.

His absence from the match against the Czech Republic, which Ireland lost 0-1, ended any hopes of qualifying for Euro 2008. The very reason for his lies, however, is far more serious than it may seem.

The Irish footballer later issued a statement explaining the whole situation. After one of the matches, a representative of the club came to him and gave him information about a phone call from his girlfriend, who said that his grandmother had died. Ireland was shocked and quickly rushed to his partner, who was very upset to learn of her miscarriage.

“Jessica told me she felt lonely and wanted me to come. She thought maybe they would let me out of the club quicker if they thought my grandmother had died,” the statement said.

This series of several lies leads one to wonder why Stephen Ireland did not tell the real reason from the beginning. If his official statement was true, it is hard to imagine that the club and national team management would have prevented him from being with his partner during a difficult time.

Source: The Guardian