North Melbourne captain Jack Ziebell has spoken of his family's shock after being named in a fake social media post that stated he had tested positive for coronavirus.
On Sunday a tweet, which claimed to be from a football journalist, was posted stating that Ziebell had contracted the virus.
Ziebell spoke about how the post led to some anxious moments for his family, despite the post being fake.
“My old man gave me a call Sunday afternoon when I was outside doing something on the front lawn and I didn’t have my phone with me,” Ziebell told the Herald Sun.
“My girlfriend popped out of the house and said ‘your dad’s on the phone, he sounds a bit concerned.’
“I said ‘what’s going on mate?’ and he asked ‘do you have coronavirus’? “I said ‘what are you talking about? I don’t have it.’
“He said ‘I’ve had a mate ring me that said on Twitter that you have it.’
“I was trying to figure out what had happened and I checked my phone and saw I had a few missed calls from the footy club’s media manager Heath O’Loughlin. “They worked out a reporter’s account had been hacked or something like that and that had been put out there."
“It’s probably more nerve-racking for my family because I knew I didn’t have it, but it was a bit interesting yesterday.”
With games set to proceed with no crowd, Ziebell spoke of his willingness to do so providing it was deemed safe by health authorities.
"If we’re OK to play then ‘why not?" "But as soon as that changes, the AFL will make the right call because they’ve got all the same priorities as society has"
“Whichever way it falls, we just have to roll with the punches a bit. But from a personal point of view, I’m happy to play as long as it’s safe.”
After completing a VFL practice game last Saturday, Ziebell has declared himself fit for Sunday's match against St Kilda.
“I pulled up really well so I’ll 100 per cent be available for Sunday’s game,” he said.
