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PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

Sports fact checks

Explore claims publishers have checked about sports. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.

1,766 published reviews in this topic

مرصد أخبار ميترSports

والدة نيمار بالنقاب في السعودية

Publisher’s rating: خبر كاذب - الصورة ليست حديثة ولا من السعودية، فقد نشرتها والدة نيمار على حسابها على إنستجرام العام الماضي 2022 أثناء زيارتها قطر.

FACTLYSports

‘The Times of India’ lost 2.8 million Instagram followers after Kohli called it out for spreading fake news about constructing a cricket pitch at his farmhouse

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerned a viral post saying The Times of India (TOI) lost 2.8 million Instagram followers after Virat Kohli criticized a report that he was constructing a cricket pitch at his farmhouse in Alibaug, Maharashtra. The review describes Kohli denouncing the report as fake news on 15 August 2023, and the post’s asserted fall from 5.6 million followers to 2.8 million. The review found that the follower-loss claim was not supported by the available account statistics. [S1: “on 15 August 2023, Kohli denounced this as fake news” and “claiming that Instagram followers for TOI have plummeted dramatically from 5.6 million to 2.8 million”] The review checked TOI’s Instagram account and reported that it had 2.8 million followers as of 18 August 2023. It then examined a 90-day follower history using InsTrack and Social Blade. Those statistics indicated that the account had remained above 2.8 million since at least May 2023 and had never reached 5.6 million. [S1: “as of 18 August 2023, the page has 2.8 million followers” and “The statistics indicate that the page has maintained 2.8 million+ followers since at least May 2023, and it never reached 5.6 million followers.”] The review also said the preceding seven days showed a net increase, contradicting the alleged dramatic loss. It concluded that the viral screenshot had been edited. The supplied excerpt additionally reports that TOI retracted its article and apologized; it does not provide further details about that retraction or apology. [S1: “the stats from the last 7 days show a net increase in followers” and “TOI retracted the article and issued an apology.”]

El Detector / Univision NoticiasSports

Esta foto muestra los pies de Messi pequeños y los de Busquets muy grandes.

Publisher’s rating: Manipulado

The claim concerns a Facebook image that makes Lionel Messi’s feet look unusually small and Sergio Busquets’s unusually large. El Detector says the picture was digitally retouched, changing the apparent size of their feet. Its conclusion is that the image does not faithfully show their proportions: “Ni el argentino los tiene tan pequeños, ni el español tan grandes”. The review compared the circulating image with a photograph it found on Sergio “Kun” Agüero’s official Instagram account. It reports that Agüero posted the original on July 24, 2023, and says comparison with that image shows the altered feet as well as another edit: Agüero had been made to look heavier. The original also reveals the identity of a fourth person, cut off at the left of the circulating image: Agüero’s son, Benjamín.

Fact Crescendo Sri LankaSports

අසාම් අමීන්, ධනුෂ්ක අරවින්ද සහ ලහිරු මුදලිගේ නම් T20 ලෝක කුසලාන තරඟාවලිය පිළිබඳ විගණන වාර්තාවේ ඇතුළත් ද?

Publisher’s rating: False

The review investigated social-media posts alleging that journalist Asam Ameen, Dhanushka Aravinda and Lahiru Mudalige were among people whose travel to Australia for the 2022 men’s T20 World Cup was funded by Sri Lanka Cricket, and that their names appeared in a national audit report. It says the claim circulated amid discussion of cricket officials and other people travelling to watch the tournament. The review’s specific question was whether the three journalists’ names were in the audit report—not simply whether they travelled to Australia or produced coverage from there. The publisher says it examined a special audit report relating to the tournament. It notes that the document was not published on the National Audit Office website, so it did not include the report in its article. According to the review, the report contained names and expenses for players, officials and other attendees, but the three journalists’ names did not appear in it. The review also contacted Ameen, who said that he and the other two journalists obtained sponsorship through the International Cricket Council’s visa process, not from Sri Lanka Cricket. The publisher says it obtained letters from the ICC for all three and that Aravinda and Mudalige likewise said they had not used Sri Lanka Cricket funds for the trip. The review additionally reports checking videos about the trip, which showed sponsorship notices, and says it found interviews conducted by Mudalige and Aravinda with people in Australia. Those details provide context for their travel and media work, but the review’s direct evidence about the claim is its reported audit-document examination and the journalists’ accounts. It concludes that the posts alleging the three names were in the audit report were false.

FACTLYSports

Sangeeta Phogat suffered a devastating 0-10 defeat in the Hungary Ranking Series tournament

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

The claim concerns Sangeeta Phogat’s first-round result at the Hungary Ranking Series tournament. The review confirms that she lost that bout 10–0 to US wrestler Jennifer Page Rogers, so the score itself is accurate. But presenting that first-round defeat as the full outcome of her tournament leaves out what followed. The review says it checked results and videos on the United World Wrestling website. It reports that Phogat won her next match 12–2 against US wrestler Reyna Brenda Olivia, then lost in the semi-final. She subsequently defeated Hungarian wrestler Viktoria Borsos in the bronze-medal playoff, securing a bronze medal for India in the women’s 59 kg category. Thus, the claim uses a real loss but omits her later results and medal. The review also reports that Phogat posted about the medal on 15 July 2023, dedicating it to women struggling against crimes against women. That later reference is consistent with the review’s account of her tournament finish, rather than the impression that the first-round loss was her only significant result.

YouturnSports

மல்யுத்த வீராங்கனை சங்கீதா போகத் ஒரு மல்யுத்த போட்டியில் 0-10 என்ற கணக்கில் தோல்வியடைந்தார். ஆனால் ஒலிம்பிக்கில் நேரடியாக நுழைய வேண்டுமாம். மோடிஜி தயவு செய்து இதற்கு ஏதாவது பண்ணுங்கள்..

Publisher’s rating: Misleading