Yahoo Finance Former Romanian PM accused of copying Gary Lineker message mourning death of Diego Maradona
A former prime minister of Romania has been ridiculed for copying Gary Lineker’s Twitter message mourning the death of football legend Diego Maradona.
Victor Ponta posted his own message to remember the late Argentinian football star, who died on Wednesday.
But social media users were quick to point out that part of his message was identical to that of the former English striker turned Match of The Day host.
Lineker wrote that: “After a blessed but troubled life, hopefully he’ll finally find some comfort in the hands of God,”
A few hours later Ponta wrote his message which included exactly the same line.
The plagiarism was noticed by Twitter users who reported the striking similarities between the two messages and started joking at the expense of the former Romanian prime minister.
One user claimed the pair must "think the same”, while another said: “Must be appreciated for the effort: copy / paste.”
It is not the first time that Mr Ponta has been accused a history of plagiarism. This July, the Romania’s High Court of justice ruled that he had indeed plagiarised his doctoral dissertation.
Reports from Argentina that Diego Armando Maradona has died. By some distance the best player of my generation and arguably the greatest of all time. After a blessed but troubled life, hopefully he’ll finally find some comfort in the hands of God. #RipDiego
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) November 25, 2020
In 2012 when Mr. Ponta was still in office, the National Council for the Attestation of University Degrees, Diplomas and Certificates, reported that the former PM plagiarized dozens of pages from his dissertation.
Meanwhile, the message was deleted from the ex-prime minister's Twitter account and replaced with another post about the great footballer’s death.
Ponta was Romanian PM between May 2012 and November 2015.
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