An England fan who pulled a sickie to watch the semi final match has been SACKED after her boss spots her celebrating on TV.
37 year old Nina Farooqi decided to do what a huge amount did in the Wembley crowd in either skipping work or school to be part of the ‘I was there ‘ moment.
She chose not to go to her workplace in Yorkshire after her friend won last-minute tickets to the historic match against Denmark in a work raffle. Already a prized possession at the time considering tickets are so difficult to buy or sold out.
She said she thought that she was unlikely to be granted the day off to attend, due to work being short-staffed, and so this is why she was forced to call in sick and make a dash for the train on Wednesday lunchtime train from Leeds to London Kings Cross, before heading to Wembley.
But the face of the digital content producer, from Ilkley, near Bradford, was shown around the world when a TV camera zoomed in on her and her friend celebrating England’s equalising goal.
Farooqi, who was sitting behind the goal, even appeared on TV presenter Stacey Dooley’s Instagram story, something she excitedly shared with loved ones.
However, when catching the train which arrived at 6am back up north the next morning, Farooqi said her boss phoned her to tell her not to bother coming in. Ouch.
The 37-year-old, whose LinkedIn page suggests she works a variety of freelance jobs, says she lost her office job, which appears to be as a Digital Content Co-ordinator at Leeds decking and and cladding firm Composite Prime.
Farooqi told The Daily Telegraph: ‘They said they’d seen I’d been at the game, and I was honest about why I did it. But 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. I’d do it all over again.’
Farooqi said her office job gave her the cash she needed to get to matches, which sees her freelance as a photographer and video producer in the men’s club game and across the Women’s Super League.
She had initially thought it would be unlikely she would be spotted in a crowd of over 60,000. However the TV cameras were absolutely everywhere.
She checked her phone at half-time, she realised her game was up. She said: ‘We were all over the news, my face was on every television screen across the world.’
The digital content producer was even told that friends in Australia and the US got in touch to say they had spotted her.
She added: ‘It’s mixed emotions: we’re through to the final, I’m still on that high, but I’ve also lost my job.’
Explaining her decision to avoid work, she said there was ‘no way’ she’d turn the opportunity down after her friend won the tickets in a work raffle.
‘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. Football is my life.’
The company’s website says: ‘While we’ve been keeping busy with the surge of garden improvements during lockdown, we’ve also been busy creating the best team of people who are committed to helping our customers every need and providing the best products to all of our stockists.’
An entry for Farooqi on the site reads: ‘I come from a social media and content creation background, working across various sectors. I live on the internet, keeping up with the latest trends and memes.
‘When I’m not working or hanging out with my cats Crumbles and Licorice, you’ll find me photographing women’s football, which has taken me all over Europe; to Champions League finals and the World Cup.
‘I also love going to gigs and festivals when I can, knitting and gaming.’
Farooqi said her friends in women’s football have rallied around her since she lost her job at Composite Prime, and have already new freelance work for her.
Composite Prime describes themselves as ‘innovators, designers and manufacturers of eco-friendly wood composite decking, cladding and flooring’.
Managing director Dom Harrison founded the company in 2015 and is thought to be the person who sacked Farooqi.
There are now calls to make Monday a Bank Holiday, a petition for it signed over 300,000 times in under 24 hours. Schools and other businesses are potentially opening later on Monday also.
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Fans reacted after seeing that an England fan who pulled a sickie to watch match SACKED after boss spots her on TV…
@callum4LFC: Worth it
@imspacebootzbtw: fuck the miserable bastards at her work š¤£ once in a life time event
@OzzyDiaby: Hope someone offers her a job the legend.
@DJDAZZA84: Oops
@Danthom03: Nina, you may have lost your job, but youāve earned this internet strangerās undying respect š¤ š“ó §ó ¢ó „ó ®ó §ó æ
@KearneyCCFC1984: I got caught on telly at two different matches after calling in sick when City were going for the league in 2017, got a final warning in a disciplinary, and city didnāt win the league at either of those games ffs
@henrycarden: Bosses are the worst.
@rockhawk777: Some things in life are bigger than employment Hopefully she’ll get a ticket to the championship game Because she’s not going to have to worry about work
@Dreadnoughteus: @Composite_Prime justice for #NinaFarooqi. Absolutely miserable company.
@toddmustgo: On balance, totally worth it.
@LWmHA: Very unfortunate
@Dazza25dj: Fuck em. Miserable set of melons
@danwignall1306: Clearly was working for a bunch of bells
@Gizmo32k: Worth it
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