On May 18, former Woodlands Wellington FC player, Nur Alam Shah passed away, following a heart attack.

The founder of the Combine Schools FC was in the midst of raising funds to pay for his five-year-old son's upcoming surgery due to a rare heart defect.

Story misreported, retracted a few minutes later

Berita Mediacorp, Mediacorp's Malay news media, reported the story, but unfortunately, mistook Nur for Noh Alam Shah, a player formerly with Tampines Rovers FC and who is now assistant team manager of the national team.

The original article which got it wrong also used a photo of Noh and his two young children.

The article was retracted just minutes later and a more accurate story was published.

Angered fans and friends

However, fans and friends of both Nur and Noh spotted Berita Mediacorp's mistake and shared it on their own Facebook pages.

Translation of last sentence: "Sue them..."

"Guys, please take note, Noh Alam Shah, aka Nohal Shah, former national footballer is still alive and well and will be the official for the national team. The one who just passed on is Nur Alam Shah, another footballer who is a mutual friend of my Facebook friends. Berita Mediacorp, I hope you will apologise for this incident."

"My condolonces to the mainstream media."

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A few people said they lost faith in Berita Mediacorp because of this incident.

 

"So we all know Berita Mediacorp spreads fake news. Don't trust them ever again."

"Hell of a day" for Noh

While Noh did not make any public statement regarding this incident, the 37-year-old retired footballer did comment on one of the posts, saying that it was "a hell of a day" for him:

Berita Mediacorp apologises to Noh and family

On the same day, Berita Mediacorp also released an apology statement on their Facebook page.

Here's a translation of the statement:

"MISTAKE IN REPORTING AND APOLOGY

We apologise to Noh Alam Shah and his family as well as our readers for a mistake in our earlier news about the death of Noh Alam Shah. It should have referred to Nur Alam Shah, former footballer from another club.

We have retracted the reporting in a matter of few minutes since it was published. Once again, we would like to apologise to Noh Alam Shah and his family for the slip-up. We hope your family will continue to be blessed in the noble month of Ramadan.

Please take note and regards."

We have reached out to Noh for comment.

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