/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/NLQ7MXUABVEYFDRCLBVKAPALSE.jpeg)
A video showing most of the photos of Portuguese football star Cristiano Ronaldo being doctored and incorrectly titled is being shared online with claims the images reflect his support for the Palestinians.
A Facebook post dated October 27, 2023, shared a video compilation that lasted just over a minute and had been viewed more than 21,000 times at the time of publication. The headline read: “Cristiano Ronaldo fully supports Palestine.”
Reuters Photo
In the first video clip to circulate, Ronaldo, surrounded by posters and maps on video, said: “We know you suffered a lot. I am a very famous player, but you are the real heroes. Don’t Losing hope. The world is with you. We care about you. “I am with you. “
On December 23, 2016, Ronaldo’s official Facebook page shared the video without an overlay, with the caption: “A message of hope for children affected by the conflict in Syria. @savethechildren.”
The compilation of erroneous images then continues with various suggestive clips and images. However, some content did not show Ronaldo or contained pro-Palestinian content, while others were modified to add this content.
According to the Middle East Eye YouTube page, on December 1, 2022, at 0:17 in the compilation, Moroccan footballer Jawad El Yamiq holds the Palestinian flag during the World Cup Celebrate victory over Canada.
The 0:27 mark shows a photo of Ronaldo at a football match on February 21, 2010, with his jersey digitally altered to read: “Save Palestine.” Initial photos from Reuters showed the shirt with the word “Madeira” written on it, the name of the Portuguese island region where Ronaldo was born.
Three other clips between 0:30 and 0:55 show Ronaldo participating in events unrelated to Palestinian themes, including scenes in Lyon, France, in June 2016, a press conference in Budapest in June 2020, and in 2014 In December of this year, the FIFA World Cup final was held in Morocco.
A clip at 0:55 in the compilation shows Ronaldo removing a silver medal from around his neck, with the words “Israel News” overlaid on the screen, which did not appear in the newspaper. original clip British broadcaster TNT Sports published on the page of social media platform X in December 2019.
The next scene again shows the modified “Madeira” shirt, followed by an image of Ronaldo holding up a digitally modified sign that reads “Me (heart) Gaza and you?”. In the original photo, Ronaldo holds a sign that reads: “TODOS con Lorca” while visiting residents affected by the earthquake in Lorca, Spain, in 2011. Reuters previously fact-checked a similarly altered version of the same photo.
Photos of Ronaldo have been altered to add headgear and clothing, as seen on image search platform TinEye, a collection showing an altered “TODOS con Lorca” photo of Ronaldo with the slogan changed to: “TODOS con Palestine”.
The last image shown in the compilation circulating online dates back to at least January 2013, according to searches on TinEye.
In June 2022, France 24 fact-checker Observer confirmed that the photo showed a representative of FIFA’s Palestinian federation, but explained that Ronaldo’s photo with the group “does not express support for the Palestinian cause.”
Ronaldo’s representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Reuters previously fact-checked photos of soccer star Lionel Messi that had been altered to suggest support for Palestinians and Israelis in the context of Israel’s 2023 war with Hamas.
judgment
Misunderstood. The videos and images in the compilation predate the 2023 Israel-Hamas war, and many have been altered or mislabeled.
This article was produced by the Reuters fact-checking team. Learn more about our fact-checking efforts.
Our standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.