Sixers

No, Joel Embiid Is Not Playing in a Soccer Match on Saturday

By Kyle Scott

Published: Jun 1st, 2017 · 12:41 PM EDT

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Twitter was ABLAZE today after Joel Embiid was listed as a participant in legends soccer match taking place before the Champions League championship between Real Madrid and Juventus in Stockholm on Saturday.

Here’s the roster as reported by the BBC:

Gullit All-Stars

Vítor Baia (GK), Cafu, Ciro Ferrara, Steffen Freund, Patrik Andersson, Dejan Stankovic, Youri Djorkaeff, Robert Pires, Marcel Desailly, Ian Rush, Ryan Giggs, Fabrizio Ravanelli, David Trezeguet, Gianluca Zambrotta, Eric Abidal, Marco Materazzi, Jeremy Lynch (freestyler), Clint Capela, Joel Embiid

Carmelo Anthony is listed on the opposing team.

Embiid is a noted soccer fan and he said he played it growing up. He’s also shown off his ball skills on the court:

But Sixers PR tells Kevin Kinkead that – as expected – Embiid is not playing in the match. He’ll be there, but not playing.

Now, I doubt he ever had plans to play in the first place. However, there’s also the possibility that the Sixers caught wind of this, called him, and told him that if he so much as steps foot on the pitch to not return to Philly, like ever. It would have been the worst idea ever.