Fury after South Korean radio blunder

A radio DJ in South Korea caused chaos today when she mistakenly said Germany had been disqualified from the World Cup, meaning the co-hosts would meet Brazil in the final on Sunday.

The SBS Power FM DJ said one of the German players had failed a drugs test after receiving a text message to that effect.

World Cup organisers and the media were immediately flooded with calls.

The DJ, TV actress Choi Hwa-Jung, got the message from a misinformed friend, the station said in an apology.

‘‘After receiving the message, she became too excited and read it into the microphone,’’ an SBS spokesman told the French news agency AFP.

‘‘There was a pandemonium in the main control room. About four minutes later, the message was confirmed to be false and she apologised four times,’’ he said.

Germany beat South Korea 1-0 in the semi-final on Tuesday, ending the co-host’s dream run in the World Cup which had sparked national football fever.

‘‘We feel sorry for causing the public uproar by airing a groundless rumour,’’ SBS chief producer Kim Sang-Il said.