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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

FACTLYSports

Photo showing wrestlers packing their bags and moving out of the protest site after ending their protests against WFI President Brij Bhushan Singh

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim misrepresents a photograph of wrestlers at the Jantar Mantar protest in Delhi: it says Bajrang Punia, Sangita Phogat and others are packing up and leaving after ending their protest against WFI president Brij Bhushan Singh. The review concludes that the image instead shows their ordinary morning routine after spending the night at the site, not a departure from the protest. To check the image’s provenance, the review says it used reverse image search and found the same photo in a Hindustan Times article. That article’s caption described Punia and Phogat as being at Jantar Mantar “following a night stay” amid the protest. The review also reports that other news websites published the same image with the same description. The review says that, as of 10 May 2023, Punia, Sangita Phogat, Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and other wrestlers were still protesting at Jantar Mantar and demanding Singh’s resignation. It also cites Satyavrat Kadian, Sakshi Malik’s husband, who explained that the wrestlers fold and pack their blankets every morning and put them in vehicles, and said the protest was still ongoing. Taken together, the image’s documented setting and the explanation of the morning routine contradict the claim that it records the wrestlers ending their protest and moving out.

dpaSports

Cette vidéo montre la ville de Naples fêter son titre de champion d'Italie.

Publisher’s rating: Non. Les images datent de 2020, et ont été immortalisées à Split, en Croatie. Ces feux d’artifice s’inscrivaient dans le cadre du 70ème anniversaire de la Torcida, un groupe de supporters du club de la ville, le Hajduk Split. Il y a donc bien un rapport avec le foot, mais pas avec le championnat d’Italie.

The claim concerns a widely shared video of fireworks, filmed from a car, said to show Naples celebrating SSC Napoli’s Italian league title. The investigation distinguishes the real celebrations in Naples after the club’s win from this particular video, which it says was not filmed in the Italian city. It reports that Napoli won the title on 4 May 2023, while the circulating footage was already online in 2020. To trace the footage, the fact-checkers describe finding it on Reddit in November 2020 and on Instagram on 29 October 2020, where posts associated it with Torcida, supporters of Croatian club Hajduk Split. They then located a video published on 31 October 2020 on the official KN Torcida Split YouTube channel. It contains the same fireworks scene and was published in connection with Torcida’s 70th anniversary. The location check provides a separate basis for rejecting the Naples attribution: the investigation says it geolocated the scene to a street in Split and compared the video with Google Street View imagery from August 2019. It identifies matching traffic lights and signs, street lamps, and bollards along the sidewalk. The footage therefore depicts a football-related celebration, but the evidence places it in Split in 2020, not Naples celebrating the 2023 Italian title.

Fact Crescendo CambodiaSports

A photo showing Vietnamese fans holding Vietnam’s flag was posted by a Facebook user with a claim that it was taken at Cambodia’s stadium. This post comes after Vietnam won against Laos 2-0 recently at Prince Stadium, Phnom Penh. It was shared and reacted with mixed comments from Facebook users who are speaking Khmer. However, after running a Google Reverse Image search, it proves that the photo attached to the claim above is false.

Publisher’s rating: False

The claim concerned a photo circulating on social media after Laos played Vietnam in Cambodia, presented as showing Vietnamese supporters at a SEA Games stadium there. Fact Crescendo Cambodia examined that specific image and reported that it had been shared nearly 3,000 times by Khmer-speaking users. The investigation concluded that the photo was not taken at the claimed Cambodian event. The review says a Google Reverse Image Search led it to an earlier publication of the same image on Vietnamese news site VN Express. It reports that the image showed Vietnamese supporters celebrating after Vietnam won the women’s football final against Thailand at the 31st SEA Games. That match took place on May 21, 2022, at Cam Pha Stadium in Quang Ninh province, Vietnam—not at a stadium in Cambodia. The review’s conclusion therefore turns on the photograph’s prior publication and identification of the event and venue it depicted. Its account distinguishes the image’s actual 2022 setting from the later social-media claim that it showed supporters at the SEA Games in Cambodia.

dpaSports

Fallon Fox brak de schedels van twee tegenstanders/twee maal de schedel van een tegenstander.

Publisher’s rating: Noch de foto, noch de video tonen schedelbreuken veroorzaakt door Fallon Fox. Zij bracht één tegenstander een oogkasbreuk toe, een kwetsuur die niet ongewoon is in MMA.

The claim concerns a Facebook post alleging that Fallon Fox broke opponents’ skulls twice, supported by a photograph of a bloodied athlete and a video of a fight. The review examined those two items rather than treating them as proof simply because they were presented together: it identifies the photographed athlete as Kay Hansen and the opponent in the video as Ericka Newsome. The review reports that neither item shows a skull fracture caused by Fox. (The article describes the photograph as showing Fox beside Hansen.)

Fact Crescendo CambodiaSports

A claim stating that Manchester City has been fined by the Premier League by cutting 30pts down and now this football club stood at 12th on the league table was posted by a Facebook page. This claim was widely shared and reacted with mixed comments from many Facebook users who are speaking Khmer. However, after checking the reliable sources, it proves that the above claim is false.

Publisher’s rating: False

The claim concerned a Facebook post from a page called “Man City Fans Cambodia,” which said Manchester City had been fined by the Premier League and lost 30 points, supposedly dropping from second to 12th. Fact Crescendo Cambodia reports that the post appeared on April 1, 2023, and says it reviewed press coverage and Premier League standings to check the allegation.

Factcrescendo Sri LankaSports

Dasun Shanaka was selected for CSK !!

Publisher’s rating: False

The review addresses viral Facebook posts in Sri Lanka and India that showed Dasun Shanaka wearing a Chennai Super Kings jersey and suggested he would replace injured New Zealand bowler Kyle Jamieson. It places the posts in the run-up to IPL 2023: Shanaka had not been selected in the December 2022 player auction, but later injuries created opportunities for replacement signings. The jersey image and replacement story therefore concerned a specific claim about his team, not merely whether he would play in the IPL. To check the CSK part of the claim, the review says it checked official reports about Jamieson’s replacement. It reports that an IPL Media Advisory named South African pacer Sisanda Magala as CSK’s replacement for Jamieson. The review also says Mumbai Indians did not sign Shanaka, despite separate social-media claims linking him to that franchise. The review reports that Shanaka was instead named as a replacement for injured Kane Williamson in the Gujarat Titans squad. It points to an official Gujarat Titans post and an IPL announcement about his inclusion, and says Shanaka was later seen at a net session with Gujarat. These details distinguish his actual IPL signing from the viral CSK claim: he did join the 2023 tournament, but the cited replacement was for Gujarat Titans, not Chennai Super Kings.