Craig Buttler Lashes-out at the Jamaica Observer after “Poor Untrustworthy Reporting” about Dujuan Richards’ Transfer

March 9, 2023

Phoenix Football Academy founder Craig Butler has rebuffed reports made by the Jamaica Observer alleging that Kingston College forward Dujuan “Whisper” Richards is set to sign a contract with an English Premier League (EPL) football club.

Richards had outstanding performances during the schoolboy football season, and the standout Phoenix Academy member recently voyaged to Europe for a two-week trial with Newcastle United. The 17-year-old was named on the Reggae Boyz squad list for the national team’s upcoming friendlies against Trinidad and Tobago, which will be hosted at the Montego Bay Sports Complex on March 11 and the National Stadium on March 14.

Amid Richards growing notoriety in the sport, the Observer reported on March 8 that the young footballer was preparing to sign with a top EPL club on Friday. The news outlet’s initial report was affirmed a day later in a follow-up report that quoted Buttler. The Observer cited “well-placed sources and football insiders across the football globe” as a source for the publication’s breaking news.

According to the observer, Buttler refused to name the club but “admitted that the promising striker was indeed on his way to big-time continental football.”

“He will sign with a very big club in the next few days if he has not signed already,” Buttler reportedly stated.

However, the Phoenix Academy president has denied speaking with the Observer.

“…At no time had Phoenix sports@management, the management team of Dujuan Richards, nor his family disclosed to anyone, including the writer of this article in the Jamaica observer, that our client is signing with any club, much less a London based club,” Buttler wrote in an Instagram post on Wednesday.

Buttler labelled the report “untrustworthy” and “unprofessional,” emphatically stating that neither Richards nor his management had confirmed those rumours.

One Instagram user, bank_lawd, questioned why Buttler’s son, Kyle Buttler, had reposted the article and requested viewers to stay tuned. However, the younger Buttler seemingly denied reposting the report, writing that bank_lawd was wrong. Bank_lawd allege that Kyle had deleted the post after he mentioned it.

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