Fact-check: Former Arsenal star Alexis Sanchez does not have coronavirus

Former Arsenal star Alexis Sanchez, who is currently on loan at Inter Milan from Manchester United, became a victim on Wednesday — not of the novel coronavirus but of the hysteria around it and a case of bad translation.

The news was the Sanchez, a Chilean by nationality, has contracted the virus, which would have been the first case for a major football star.

However, it turns out that the source of the (inaccurate) news was a Chilean website cdf.cl, whose copy in Chilean was translated into English via Google Translate by some nincompoop.

So a story about Sanchez's Inter Milan getting affected by the outbreak of coronavirus in Italy (some of their matches will be played behind closed doors) was misconstrued as Sanchez himself being diagnosed with the virus.

The rumour's bubble was burst by some on Twitter.

Now that you know, walk off. There is nothing more to read here.

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