Football clip doesn’t show on-loan player scoring to relegate parent club

29 June 2022
What was claimed

A video shows a footballer relegating their parent club by scoring a goal for the team they were sent on loan to.

Our verdict

The clip actually shows a player ignoring attempts to stop the game for an injured player. Neither team was relegated as a result of the match, and the goalscorer was not on loan.

An Instagram account has shared a clip from a football match which it claims shows a player relegating his parent club by scoring a goal for the team he is on loan to.

The clip shows a player scoring a goal, and being chased by members of the opposing team as he runs away to celebrate.

However, the real reason for the controversy is not quite as dramatic.

The clip in question is from a Serbian First League football match on 24 August 2019 between FK Metalac and OFK Bačka.

A full video of the incident is available on YouTube, and appears to show a player for FK Metalac scoring after OFK Bačka players attempted to stop play for an injured teammate. This is also how the Guardian reported the incident at the time. 

Players for OFK Bačka start chasing the goalscorer, and a mass brawl ensues, with players from both sides ultimately getting sent off as a result.

The football score site Soccerway’s record of the game shows that on 45 minutes Nikola Grbovic scored to put FK Metalac 1-0 up, with three red cards subsequently shown to an FK Metalac player and two OFK Bačka players.

Rather than taking a leaf out of Marcelo Bielsa’s book, FK Metalac scored again on 81 minutes, winning the game 2-0. 

Some social media posts have correctly described the incident, but have still claimed that the goal resulted in OFK Bačka getting relegated by one of their own players.

This is obviously wrong for a number of reasons. The game took place towards the start of the league season, the goalscorer was not on loan from OFK Bačka and OFK Bačka were not relegated from the league that season.

In fact, both teams were promoted.

Image courtesy of Jannik Skorna

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