Fact Check: Old photo of Football player Messi viral with a fake claim
Vishvas News found in its investigation that the viral claim is false. Messi has not visited Cameroon recently. This photo of Lionel Messi was taken when he came to lay the foundation stone of a stadium in Gabon in 2015.
- By: Rangman Das
- Published: Dec 28, 2021 at 05:23 PM
- Updated: Feb 21, 2022 at 07:16 PM
Guwahati (Vishvas News)। A post is viral on social media where it is being claimed that Football player Lionel Messi is visiting Cameroon at the invitation of the president of the Cameroon Football Association Samuel Eto, who is Messi’s former Barcelona Teammate. The post is claiming that Samuel Eto promised before his selection that he will invite Messi and now he has fulfilled his promise. Vishvas News found in its investigation that the viral claim is false. Messi has not visited Cameroon recently. This photo of Lionel Messi was taken when he came to lay the foundation stone of a stadium in Gabon in 2015.
What is this viral post?
Facebook page Ghetto Youth TV shared this post and wrote, “Welcome Messi To Cameron Samuel Eto’o promise Cameroonian that if he wins the election he will invite Messi to Cameroon. Messi just landed at the Bafut international airport.”
See the archive version of the viral post here.
Investigation
Vishvas News first searched this viral photo using the Yandex reverse image search tool. We saw many reports where this viral photo was used. The report, published on July 18, 2015, in Sports.fr, reads – Translation – Currently, on vacation, Lionel Messi went to Gabon, on the invitation of President Ali Bongo. You can read this report by clicking here –
On 23rd July 2015. The report was about the criticism over Messi’s attire during the event. According to the report “Barcelona forward and Argentine star, Lionel Messi has come under heavy criticisms over his casual dress mode to a national event in Gabon which was to lay the first stone of the country’s Port-Gentil stadium construction for AFCON 2017.”
We contacted the Sports Editor of Niyomiya Barta (Newspaper), Mukut Sarma in this connection. He said “it’s a very old photo. Messi has not been to Cameroon recently.”
In the end, we scanned the profile of the Facebook page Ghetto Youths TV. This page is followed by 22000 people. The viral post has already been shared by 3600+ people. The page was created on January 28, 2017.
Conclusion: Vishvas News found in its investigation that the viral claim is false. Messi has not visited Cameroon recently. This photo of Lionel Messi was taken when he came to lay the foundation stone of a stadium in Gabon in 2015.
- Claim Review : “Welcome Messi To Cameron Samuel Eto'o promise Cameroonian that if he wins the election he will invite Messi to Cameroon. Messi just landed at the Bafut international airport.”
- Claimed By : Ghetto Youth TV
- Fact Check : False
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