Former Manchester United midfielder Quinton Fortune has denied reports to ESPN that he and fellow former South Africa international Delron Buckley have been tasked with scouting players for the English giants.
Outlets in Manchester and South Africa had originally reported on a collaboration between Buckley and Fortune, who is a youth coach with the Red Devils, and the Class of ’92, to find talent in South Africa.
But Fortune, via his representatives in Manchester, has no knowledge of this, and his academy has denied any involvement in the project, which has since been touted as a development tour for young players.
Sarah Collins, the MD of Quinton Fortune Football Academy, told ESPN: ” There are no partnerships between QFA with any academies in South Africa currently.
“We hope to one day fulfill the dream of Quinton Fortune to have a football academy in his home country, but work to do that has not yet been started and we are not in partnership with anyone to do so.”
A source close to the situation added to ESPN: “All of it is untrue. The Manchester United class of ’92 and MUFC the club know nothing about this. Quinton himself knew nothing about this.
“People here in Manchester are very disappointed with this false news especially right now with the country in lockdown fighting covid [coronavirus].”
Buckley, who gave the original interview to Kick Off in South Africa, responded to ESPN to say that the details of the Class of ’92’s involvement were correct.
He said: “We have joined hands with the Class of ’92 footballers to take our kids over to Manchester for training and their expertise in helping our kids become the best footballers.”
Buckley’s agent, Mohamed Riyaad, confirmed to ESPN that while Buckley had met up with Fortune on a trip to Manchester, the Red Devils’ under-23 assistant manager is not involved in the proposed tour, which has been put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Fortune recorded 76 appearances for the club between 1999 and 2006. He made 46 appearances for Bafana Bafana, and went on to achieve his coaching license in 2013.
He launched the Quinton Fortune Football Academy in Manchester in 2018, aimed at coaching kids between the ages of 6 and 13, and was appointed a youth coach at Old Trafford in 2019.
