The April Fool Archive

Maradona Joins Soviet Soccer Team    (April Fool's Day - 1988)

The Soviet newspaper Izvestia reported that the Moscow Spartak soccer team was in negotiations with Argentine star Diego Maradona. On the table was an offer of $6 million for him to come play for them. If all went well, he would join the team within a year. The report was met with astonishment around the world — not because many people believed it, but because it was the first time the normally very serious Izvestia had ever published an April fool's day hoax. Frivolity of this kind had previously been frowned upon by the Kremlin.
April Fool's Day Sports Hoaxes Notable April Fool's Day Hoaxes by Newspapers Russian April Fool's Day Hoaxes April Fool's Day, 1988 The April Fool's Day "Unlikely Acquisition" Hoax

More content from the Hoax Museum:

The boy with the golden tooth, 1593

The Great Wall of China Hoax, 1899

The Great Electric Sugar Swindle, 1884

Comments

You mean the football team IS called Spartak Moscow? Who cares, the sport would need to improve dramatically to just be boring as bleep! There's nothing more exciting than a scoreless tie! Or perhaps would that be a necktie with a zero on it.
Posted by Attila  on  Mon Apr 02, 2007  at  03:25 AM