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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

Zimbabwean national cricket team players dancing to Bharat ka baccha baccha, Jai Shree Ram bolega.’

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a video presented as showing Zimbabwean national cricket team players dancing to “Bharat ka baccha baccha, Jai Shree Ram bolega.” FACTLY’s review says the footage came from the team’s celebration after its victory over Pakistan during the ongoing T20 World Cup, but that the viral version altered the audio. The distinction is between the celebration shown and the song heard over it: the review reports that the players did celebrate, but not to the song attributed to them.

فکت‌نامهSports

بررسی الگوی گردش خبر نادرست حضور علی دایی و ستارگان فوتبال در سقز

Publisher’s rating: بررسی‌های فکت‌نامه نشان می‌دهد این خبر پس از انتشار در برخی حساب‌های کاربری محلی از سوی برخی حساب‌های کاربری فعال و پرطرفدار در شبکه‌های اجتماعی دست به دست شده و انتشار آن در ایندیپندنت فارسی، من و تو و ایران اینترنشنال باعث شد دامنه شایعات در این باره بالا بگیرپد

FACTLYSports

Video of a Zimbabwean news anchor laughing after Zimbabwe cricket team’s victory against Pakistan in the 2022 T20 world cup

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim identifies the laughing man in a viral video as a Zimbabwean news anchor reacting to Zimbabwe’s cricket victory over Pakistan in the 2022 T20 World Cup. FACTLY says the video instead shows Akrobeto, a Ghanaian television presenter, in footage from 2020. It reports that he was hosting “The Real News” on UTV Ghana and laughing while reading the names of football clubs—not responding to a cricket match. FACTLY describes finding an extended version of the viral clip through an internet keyword search. It identifies that video as a UTV Ghana Online upload titled “Akrobeto ‘Massacres’ Names Of Foreign Clubs As He Gives Fixtures From Bundesliga To Italian Serie A,” dated 31 October 2020. The review says the clip shows Akrobeto reading and mispronouncing football club names, and that he laughs while reading “Eintracht Frankfurt.” The review locates that laugh at the 0:50 mark in the extended video and says it is the same portion used in the viral clip. That matching footage, together with the earlier upload date and the presenter’s identification, establishes that the clip was taken from a Ghanaian football segment, rather than showing a Zimbabwean anchor reacting to the Pakistan match.

Folha de S.PauloSports

Vídeo que circula no TikTok, no qual torcedores do Flamengo aparecem supostamente xingando o candidato à presidência Lula durante uma partida de futebol no Maracanã.

Publisher’s rating: Falso

The claim concerns a TikTok video that appears to show Flamengo supporters calling presidential candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva a thief during a football match at Rio de Janeiro’s Maracanã stadium. The investigation found that the audio was not recorded at the match: it came from a separate video of a political rally in São Gonçalo, where supporters of President Jair Bolsonaro chanted attacks on Lula. The video combining the rally audio with football-stadium images was posted on TikTok on October 20, 2022; the audio’s original TikTok post had appeared the day before. The Comprova team said it began by checking the TikTok video and noticed that its audio had been reused in other edits. It then examined the video carrying the original audio and identified it as footage from a rally attended by Bolsonaro and Rio de Janeiro governor Cláudio Castro. The team searched for reporting about the rally and used InVID to divide the footage into frames for reverse-image searches. These checks connected the audio to the rally rather than to the match depicted by the accompanying images. The investigation could not locate the original recording of the football match, so it did not establish when those stadium images were filmed. It did note that Flamengo shirts from the 2013 and 2014 seasons and features of the stadium indicated the images were from after 2013. That limitation does not change the key finding about the audio’s provenance: the sound presented as a crowd reaction at the match was taken from a political event.

dpaSports

Deze poster van FIFA toont de gedragsregels voor het WK in Qatar.

Publisher’s rating: De poster is in de basis echt, maar is niet van de FIFA. De poster is onderdeel van een campagne genaamd 'Reflect your respect', afkomstig van een een Qatari burgerorganisatie. Het is op bepaalde punten, zoals over de alcoholregels, overdreven.

The claim concerns a poster circulating before the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, presented as FIFA’s rules for visitors. The review finds that the poster itself is genuine, but that the FIFA attribution is false: it says the poster “is niet van FIFA” and identifies it as part of “'Reflect your respect'”, a campaign by a Qatari civil organization. The review also reports that the FIFA logo was added to the image rather than appearing on the original version. The review says FIFA and the World Cup organizers publicly confirmed that the poster did not come from them. It also describes finding an online version without the FIFA logo. These details distinguish the authentic campaign poster from the altered version being shared as official FIFA guidance; the review does not present the poster as an official FIFA rules document. The poster’s content also needs qualification. The review says the campaign urged foreigners to observe conservative Islamic norms, including restrictions concerning alcohol and homosexuality, but that some of its claims overstated the rules. For example, alcohol was not illegal in Qatar, although drinking in public was prohibited. The review says temporary arrangements for the tournament allowed fans to drink in designated areas. Thus, the claim is misleading both about who issued the poster and about the accuracy of at least some rules it depicts.

FACTLYSports

Former England Captain Nasser Hussain said, “The umpires made some weird decision in favour of India today but maybe we should keep quiet and not upset ICC and BCCI.”

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a specific remark attributed to former England captain and commentator Nasser Hussain after India’s match against Pakistan in the 2022 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. The review says the quote circulated after Team India’s victory and gives its wording: it alleges that umpires made a decision in India’s favour and that people should avoid upsetting the ICC and BCCI. The review found no evidence Hussain made that remark. [S1: “Following Team India’s recent victory over Pakistan in ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022, a quote attributed to former England Cricket Captain and commentator Nasser Hussain is being widely shared on social media.”] [S1: “There is no evidence of Nasser Hussain making such a remark mocking ICC and BCCI after the 2022 T20 world Cup cricket match between India and Pakistan.”] The investigation describes two checks relevant to attribution. It says the publisher searched online using relevant keywords and found a tweet by Hussain on 23 October 2022 responding to a Twitter user who had shared the quote. Hussain asked the user to delete it, calling it fake news and a fake quote, and said it was not what a great game deserved. The user’s account later became private, but the review reports that other users had captured screenshots of the exchange. [S1: “We searched the internet with relevant keywords and found a tweet by Nasser Hussain on 23 October 2022 in which he asked a Twitter user to delete this quote by calling it fake.”] [S1: “The user then made his account private, but several other users took the screenshot of the conversation.”] The review also gives the match incident that appears to have supplied context for the fabricated attribution: in the final over, Virat Kohli protested that a full toss was above waist height, and the umpires eventually called it a no-ball. Pakistan’s team protested, but the decision stood. The review says former Pakistan captains Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Shoaib Malik argued it should have gone to the third umpire. That controversy is separate from evidence that Hussain made the circulating statement; his reported response directly disavowed it. [S1: “According to Indian Express, the controversy began in the final over when Kohli hit a full toss ball for six.”] [S1: “After Kohli protested that it should be called a no ball for being above waist, the umpires made a late decision to call it a ‘No ball’.”] [S1: “Former Pakistan captains Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Shoaib Malik said that the decision should have been referred to the third umpire.”]

FACTLYSports

Video of Pakistani cricket fan smashing his TV after the Indian team’s victory against Pakistan in the T20 cricket World Cup

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

The claim concerns a viral video presented as showing a Pakistani fan smashing his television after watching India defeat Pakistan in a T20 World Cup match. FACTLY’s review says the footage was not recorded at that cricket match: it was an older video of a football fan, altered to make it appear that he was watching the India–Pakistan game. The review identifies the original incident as involving Izzet Salti, who was watching Turkey play Croatia during Euro 2016. According to the review, Salti’s girlfriend recorded a prank in which she repeatedly turned off the television during crucial moments of the football match. Salti then smashed the TV. The viral clip reused footage from that video but digitally inserted a cricket-match image on the television screen, changing what the footage seemed to show. Thus, the review’s conclusion is about the provenance and alteration of the specific viral clip, not a claim that Pakistani fans have never broken televisions after cricket matches. FACTLY reports that it searched the internet for relevant terms, found reports about the football-match incident, and compared the viral video with a YouTube upload of the older footage. It says the viral video matches that footage from 2:16 onward. On that basis, the video does not establish that this man smashed his TV in reaction to India’s victory over Pakistan.

Fact Crescendo Sri LankaSports

බ්‍රෙට් ලී ශ්‍රී ලංකා කණ්ඩායමේ නව වේගපන්දු පුහුණුකරු ලෙස පත් කළා ද?

Publisher’s rating: Misleading

The claim concerned social-media posts saying former Australian fast bowler Brett Lee had been appointed Sri Lanka’s new fast-bowling coach, with some posts suggesting he would take up the role after the T20 World Cup. The review examined whether there had been an official announcement and whether the claim was supported by Sri Lanka Cricket or Lee’s own public communications. The article says similar reports had appeared in 2019, but notes that Lee was not appointed on those earlier occasions either. The most direct evidence reported is a response from Sri Lanka Cricket media manager Prasanna Rodrigo. According to the review, he said the board had held no such discussion with Lee and had no current intention of bringing him in as a fast-bowling consultant or coach. The article also identifies the staff it says were serving with Sri Lanka at the time: Chris Silverwood as head coach, Naveed Nawaz as assistant, Mahela Jayawardene as a specialist coach, Darshana Gamage as fast-bowling coach, and Piyal Wijetunga as spin-bowling coach. As additional checks, the review says it looked for an announcement in local and international media and checked Lee’s official Twitter and Facebook accounts, finding no post about him taking the Sri Lanka role. It reports that Lee was instead working as a commentator at the T20 World Cup in Australia. Taken together, the reported response from the cricket board and the absence of an appointment announcement contradict the posts’ claim that Lee had been appointed. The review concludes that the posts were false and misleading.