A FOOTIE player was forced to contact his family in Spain after a Dublin club said he had died in a road crash - and this morning he said: "Basically, I'm not dead."

A probe has been launched by the Leinster Senior League after it ­discovered Ballybrack FC had ­misinformed them about the death of a Fernando La Fuente.

6 Fernando has been living in Galway in September

The LSL Division 1C high-flyers were to play Arklow Town on Saturday in a crunch top-of-the-table clash.

But the game was postponed after the Dublin side told the league on Friday one of their players, Spanish ace Fernando, had died in a “traffic accident” on his way home from training the previous night.

However, a stunned Fernando revealed that he had relocated to Galway in September with work and had not played with the club since.

Last night he contacted both his wife and his mum in case they had heard and believed the lie that had been wrongly announced.

6 A probe has been launched following the controversy

He said: “My wife had some Facebook posts but she already knew everything...

"I had to call my mum straight away because she basically didn’t know anything what was going on."

Speaking this morning, Fernando told RTE Radio's Today with Sean O'Rourke: "Basically, I'm not dead.

"Work called me to say you're a celebrity, they sent a load of news articles, and that's how I found out I was dead.

6 The club at the centre of the controversy is based in Dublin Credit: Crispin Rodwell - The Sun Dublin

"I was living in Ballybrack but work offered me a relocation to Galway, so I'm guessing that's why they used by name, because I'm not there anymore.

"I was aware there was going to be some story on me, but I thought it was going to be me breaking a leg or something less serious... they took me out of the Whatsapp group on Saturday and I knew something was going on."

Fernando told how he sees the funny side of things after watched his own 'death' on Twitter.

But, at the same time, he does not condone the club's actions.

He said: “It’s funny for me because I’ve been watching my own death, I went on to Twitter and saw all these hashtags, RIP Fernando, people doing memes out of me, I’ve had some fun with this story.

“The Leinster League also did an obituary in the newspaper that they paid for.

“It’s a bit sad because it means a man in his 20s dying in a car accident with his whole life in front of him so I don’t know how I feel about that."

Fernando’s employers Glofox have this morning issued a statement and say that it has been an "extremely anxious time" for him.

6 The club said Fernando had passed away in a 'tragic accident'

They said: “Fernando La Fuente moved from Spain to Ireland in 2017 to join our Engineering team in Dublin.

"In September this year, Fernando relocated to the west of Ireland to lead and help grow the mobile app development team in our new Galway office.

“Fernando is still employed by Glofox and still living in Galway.

“Fernando was completely unaware of the false statement made in relation to his association with Ballybrack Football Club. He only learned of the false statement over the past few days through social media.

“It has been an extremely anxious time for Fernando as he tries to speak to family members and friends before they hear the news through social and other media."

In a Facebook post which has been since removed, Ballybrack FC revealed the supposed demise of its player.

The notice read: “It’s with great sadness Ballybrack FC must report the tragic loss of one of our senior players Fernando nunola fuente who passed away Friday morning after a traffic accident on Thursday night.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and team mates at this time. Rest in peace Fernando.”

6 LSL chairman Dave Moran

As a result, the LSL stuck a notification of the player’s death in a national newspaper and expressed their condolences.

However, after the league reached out about sending a rep to the player’s funeral and offering financial assistance to the family, it emerged Fernando is alive and well and had no knowledge of the ruse.

Speaking to the Irish Sun, LSL chairman Dave Moran raged: “We are still trying to verify what exactly happened here. I’ve never seen anything like this.

“This doesn’t reflect badly on the league, we were absolutely horrified and acted in good faith trying to help out at a desperate time.

"I also feel sorry for the young lad reading that he’s dead on Facebook.”

Ballybrack FC were due to face off against Arklow Town FC on Saturday.

The Co Wicklow club’s chairman Owen Moore tonight told the Irish Sun: "We were contacted by the club informing us of the situation and we also got a call from the league.”

6 Ballybrack issued a statement announcing the player's death

Teams throughout the league shared heartfelt messages of condolence with some holding a minute’s silence before one of their games after hearing of the supposed tragedy.

In a statement on Ballybrack FC’s Facebook page last night, they described the incident as a “grave and unacceptable mistake”.

It said: “It has come to the attention of both the club, senior players and the management team that a gross error of judgement has occurred emanating from correspondence sent to the LSL.

"As of this evening an emergency meeting was held and the person in question has been relieved of all footballing duties, within Ballybrack FC, its senior team and roles within the club itself.

“The club has contacted Fernando to confirm his whereabouts, wellbeing and are thankful for his acceptance of our apology on this matter.

“This grave and unacceptable mistake was completely out of character and was made by a person unbeknownst to any other members of the club.

"The club will continue to provide a duty of care to all parties and offer the support that may be needed at this time.

"This person had ­previously contributed greatly to the senior team within the club in recent years and to the wider footballing community across Dublin for decades.

“At this stage, we can only offer our sincere apologies to the LSL, our ­opponents Arklow Town FC and the host of clubs and football people who made contact with us or offered messages of support in recent days.

“We are all taken aback by this event and hope to try work with all relevant organisations and agencies to learn from this mistake.”

The message was signed: ‘Ballybrack Senior Football Team’.