Club slammed for starting influencer in top flight match in marketing stunt | Football [Video]

Deportivo Riestra, a team in the top flight of Argentinian football, has been slammed for fielding an influencer in their starting XI as part of a marketing stunt.

Riestra picked Ivan Buhajeruk, better known as Spreen, in their team to play Velez Sarsfield on Monday in a Liga Profesional Argentina match.

The 24-year-old lasted just 50 seconds on the pitch and did not touch the ball before being subbed off for Gustavo Fernandez.

The Spreen selection was all part of a marketing stunt from Victor Stinfale, who owns both the club and its main sponsor, energy drink Speed Unlimited.

The popular streamer boasts 5.4m followers on Instagram and 5.9m on X, while the club itself have just 103,000 and 15,800 on those platforms respectively, Spreen also has over 8m subscribers on YouTube.

However, the gimic was not appreciated by players in Argentina, with Velez striker Braian Romero hitting out at …