Great British fake off: English FA 'confirms it isn't making giant lasagne inside Wembley to feed people during Covid-19 crisis'

The English Football Association has reportedly rubbished a claim spread on social networking platforms which said that it was converting Wembley Stadium into a giant oven to make the world's largest lasagne.

A voice message began circulating in WhatsApp groups across the UK on Thursday which purported to be from a person with a contact in the Ministry of Defense.

According to the message, the home of English football was to be repurposed to provide Londoners with free portions of lasagne, as citizens are advised to stay indoors and only leave their homes if absolutely necessary as part of government measures intended to restrict the spread of the novel coronavirus. 

Billy McClean, a 29-year-old software salesman and London native, identified himself as the author of the clip which was designed to make light of the instances of false and misleading messages which had been shared on the platform in recent weeks. 

"My sister, her boyfriend’s brother works for the Ministry of Defence and one of the things that they’re doing to prepare … is building a massive lasagne. At the moment, as we speak, they’re building the massive lasagne sheets," McClean's voice message stated.

Intercepted voice note reveals the government's plans for Wembley Stadium lasagne during this time of crisis. pic.twitter.com/urD1BioCBI

— Football FanCast (@FootballFanCast) March 20, 2020

"They’re putting the underground heating at Wembley on, that’s going to bake the lasagne, and then they’re putting the roof across and that’s going to recreate the oven, and then what they’re going to do is lift it up with drones and cut off little portions and drop it off to people’s houses."

McClean sent the message to a group of around 30 people he plays football with and realized that it has spread around the globe when people began sending it to him later that day, without knowing that he was the initial sender. 

On Friday morning, The FA revealed that they were aware of the message but that there were no plans as of now to convert Wembley into an outdoor oven.

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McClean also said that the popularity of the voice message goes to show exactly how easily false information can be spread on platforms like WhatsApp.

"If someone sitting at home in their boxers selling software can save a one-minute clip and make it go viral, you’ve got be aware that anyone can put anything out and it might not be valid."