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Australian Football League admits award 'epic fail' Australian Football League admits 'epic award fail'
(about 1 hour later)
The Australian Football League (AFL) has confessed to an "epic fail" after congratulating the wrong player for winning the prestigious Brownlow Medal on its official shop website. The Australian Football League (AFL) has suffered an "epic fail" after it congratulated the wrong player for winning the prestigious Brownlow Medal.
It said that Sam Mitchell had won the medal before the real winner Nat Fyfe was eventually announced. The official AFL website promoted merchandise naming Sam Mitchell the code's best and fairest player, when in fact Nat Fyfe was the real winner.
The mistake - attributed to human error - drew much comment on social media. The mistake - attributed to human error - drew harsh criticism on social media.
The medal is widely acknowledged as the highest individual honour that can be won by Australian Rules players. The AFL's media manager, Patrick Keane, did not hold back either, describing the image as an "epic website fail".
The sought-after medal is awarded to the "fairest and best" player in the AFL during the home-and-away season. As soon as the mistake was realised the AFL removed the erroneous post.
The winner is chosen from votes cast by field umpires after each game. Screenshots circulating online show the framed "Grand Sam Mitchell 2015 Brownlow Medalist Signed Guernsey" was selling for A$1,364 ($948, £625).
The AFL said on its website that Mitchell was the winner, putting his shirt and other items up for sale on its official shop website. "Widely regarded as the premier contested ball winner in the game with a side-step and delivery to match, Mitchell has continued to develop new dimensions to his game," the deleted post said.
But as soon as it realised its mistake, it took the wrong announcement down from its website and instead urged fans to see the winner being selected during live counting in Melbourne. The AFL's Patrick Keane tweeted: "[we] had six Brownlow memorabilia options ready to go 4 when winner named. Human error went live with no result known. [The] AFL apologises without reservation to all fans/supporters who have been misled."
AFL Communications Manager Patrick Keane tweeted: "Epic fail on website. AFL had six Brownlow memorabilia options ready to go 4 when winner named. Human error went live with no result known. Some angry fans demanded a refund on bets they had placed, as local media reports the post pushed Mitchell's odds from A$11 to $3.
"AFL apologises without reservation to all fans/supporters who have been misled."
The incident nevertheless drew harsh criticism on Twitter with fans calling the AFL "amateurish", and others demanding a refund on bets they had placed on who would win the award.
Fyfe, 24, became the first Fremantle player to win the Brownlow with 31 votes. Mitchell came third with 26 votes.