Thousands bombard Daily Post website after Champions League draw prediction

Mar 15 2008 Liverpool Daily Post

THOUSANDS of football fans bombarded the Liverpool Daily Post’s Liverpool FC forum yesterday after a message appeared to correctly predict the Champions’ League draw – more than 90 minutes before it was made.

The user claimed they heard a rumour the draw would pit Liverpool against Arsenal and correctly forecast the other three matches as well.

It also said bookmakers had stopped taking bets.

Experts said it was virtually impossible to manipulate the time of the posting – which read 10.28am while a number of forum users said they had seen the posting before the midday draw.

UEFA last night said the person who posted the message “must have supernatural powers”.

The forum user who predicted the Liverpool draw posted under the name “confused”. He also said Fenerbahce would draw Chelsea and Manchester United would be pitted against Roma, leaving Schalke 04 to play Barcelona.

The forums’ mystery poster did not reveal the source of his information.

Steve Harrison, content manager for Trinity Mirror’s websites in the North West, said: “The fact that a full prediction of the Champions League draw appeared on our forum site well before the live draw took place in Switzerland is quite remarkable.

“We are investigating the circumstances surrounding this posting. As a result the site – at http://forums. liverpooldailypost. co.uk/ – has experienced a dramatic increase in visitors.”