England — A 37-year-old woman was fired from her job after filing for sick leave only to attend the England vs Denmark Euro 2020 semi-final but gets spotted on live television.
Die-hard England fan Nina Farooqi told her bosses that she was sick, but attended the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium on Jul 7.
When Denmark captain Simon Kjær was placed under pressure during the game by England’s Bukayo Saka, the ball was forced into Denmark’s own goal post, providing an equaliser for England in the semi-finals, which then made the crowd in the Wembley Stadium go wild!
Television cameras also zoomed in on Farooqi’s celebrations with her friend.
The footage instantly travelled the world, and at half-time, Farooqi began receiving calls from friends in Australia and America telling her they saw her on TV.
“The rational part of me thought, ‘oh no, is this going to come back to haunt me?'” said Farooqi, who worked as a digital content producer, reported The Telegraph.
She noted that her workplace was already short-staffed, and the chances of her being given a day off to join her friend were low.
Farooqi was invited at the last minute after her friend won the tickets at a work ballot.
“This hasn’t come around since 1996, I vividly remember crying on my mum’s sofa when Gareth Southgate missed his penalty, and the football fan in me just couldn’t do it,” she said, adding that football was “her life.”
The following morning, she was told by employers not to bother showing up to work.
Yahoo News reported that Farooqi’s employers, Composite Prime, would have encouraged her attendance at the “important football match.”
They also said that staff would be given the day off on Monday (Jul 12) if England won.
However, lying about it was “in breach of her employment contract.”
“We had no choice but to take the appropriate action,” the company said.
Despite losing her job, Farooqi said she would “do it all over again.”
She noted having mixed emotions about the best moment as a football fan and the worst as an employee.
“I didn’t get any sympathy at all, and they said that’s it. That’s their call and the consequence of what I did. There is a bit of regret; no one wants to get fired, but then also I would have hated the regret of missing out,” she said.
“I’d do it all over again,” she added.
England has never won the Euros. The Euro 2020 is the first time they have reached the finals. Unfortunately, the team was unable to “take it home” as Italy took the trophy. /TISG
