Soccer Fans Celebrate Championship That Turns Out To Be Just A Rumor

Barry Petchesky|published: Tue 27th May, 09:26 2014

Well, this is embarrassing. Thousands of fans flooded the streets of Barranquilla, Colombia, last night, dancing, blowing horns, and just generally partying to celebrate what they thought was the news that their beloved Junior F.C. won a championship. They are waking up this morning to sheepishly learn that, no, they still lost the title match last week.

On May 21, Atlético Nacional triumphed over Junior in penalties to win the apertura of the top Colombian league. But almost immediately after, rumors began flying on social media, spread by Junior supporters, that Atlético had illegally made four substitutions in its match, and at one point, fielded 12 players. This was untrue—and Junior had never even filed a protest.

Yesterday, those rumors reached a boiling point. Fans somehow came to believe that the league's governing body was going to overturn the results of the championship, strip Atlético of its title, and award it to Junior. El Heraldo that some fans even claimed they heard the news on television. So they poured into the streets for an impromptu parade. And you know what? Good for them. I'm going to go ahead and say that believing in and celebrating a championship is every bit as satisfying as actually winning one.