Fact Check: Old Video Of Toy Distribution At Football Match For Turkey Earthquake Survivors Going Viral In Israel-Hamas War Context

New Delhi Vishvas News – A video of a football match is rapidly gaining popularity on social media. In the video, spectators can be observed donating toys. By sharing this video, it is alleged that the viewers have made these toy donations for the children who were injured in the Israeli attack in Palestine.

In its investigation, Vishvas News discovered that the viral video has no relevance to the Israel-Palestine conflict. The viral video, which dates back to February 2023, is actually from a match held in Turkey. People were seen donating toys at the stadium to show their support for the children who had been affected by an earthquake.

What’s going viral?

While sharing the viral video on October 23, 2023, Facebook user ‘Omar Shahid’ (Archive) wrote, “Football ground became a battlefield for Palestinians. Thank you all for taking a stand in favor of Palestine.”

Investigation:

Vishvas News first used keyword searches to check relevant information. We initiated a search on Google using keywords associated with the video, which led us to a report on ‘The Quint’ website. This report was published on February 27, 2023. According to this report, Turkish football fans generously donated thousands of toys at the stadium to benefit children affected by the earthquake in Turkey.

During the course of our investigation, we came across a video report related to the claim on The Guardian Football’s official YouTube channel. This video was uploaded on February 27, 2023. According to the information available, the video pertains to a match between Besiktas and Antalyaspor in the Turkish Super League. It documents spectators donating thousands of teddy bears and toys to children who had survived the Turkiye earthquake. Notably, the match was temporarily halted to facilitate the toy donations.

Besiktas, in appreciation of the act, also shared this video of teddy bear donations on their official account, and it was posted on February 26, 2023. Taking our investigation further, we reached out to sports journalist Syed Hussain, who clarified that the viral video is indeed from the time of the Turkey earthquake.

Lastly, we conducted a thorough examination of the user who shared the video with the false claim. We discovered that this user has a following of 2,500 people.