League Championship Side Charlton Admits 'Sex Tape' Video Was Publicity Stunt

League Championship side Charlton Athletic admitted that the "sex tape" video that emerged on Thursday was a publicity stunt, according to Tom Sheen of the London INDEPENDENT. The video, which shows a couple having sex on the center-circle at The Valley, "reached more than a million views, with speculation that a couple had broken into the ground." However, after the club had initially claimed it was going to investigate, it admitted that "the whole thing was a hoax." Charlton Commercial Manager Mark Hassan-Ali said, "We wanted to launch our pitch hire program with a viral that would make football fans laugh" (INDEPENDENT, 2/27). In London, David Raven wrote a club spokesperson said that bosses decided the publicity stunt would be a "good idea" to promote pitch hire at their stadium during May. A Vine video uploaded Wednesday claims that the duo "broke into" The Valley football stadium in London in the early hours. User Showboat Vines "posted the clip online" and it quickly went viral. The man behind Showboat Vines said, "I can't say where I got the footage from (I'm sure you understand) but it's genuine" (DAILY MIRROR, 2/26).