Original article (in BCS) was published on 08/12/2023; Author: Mladen Lakić
A video circulating on Facebook, suggesting it shows soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo displaying a Palestinian flag on the field, actually features Moroccan soccer player Jawad El Yamiq.
On December 3, 2023, the Facebook page Kakanjski Portal posted the video, along with a caption implying that it depicts Cristiano Ronaldo holding the Palestinian flag on the soccer field. The post reads:
Long live Ronaldo and Palestine‼️
If this was the flag of Israel, it would get a million likes. What is your reaction to the raising of the flag of Palestine⁉️ 👍
At the time of this analysis, the video on Kakanjski Portal’s Facebook page had 68,000 views, 3,900 reactions, 179 comments, and had been shared 275 times.
Who is the soccer player from the video?
While a video of a famous soccer player waving the Palestinian flag on the field would have sparked media interest, a Google search using the keywords “Ronaldo, Palestinian flag” does not yield any credible media reports on the matter.
A search for footage from the video purporting to show Ronaldo holding a Palestinian flag led Raskrinkavanje.ba to the Middle East Eye YouTube account. On this media organization’s channel, Raskrinkavanje.ba found a video clip with frames identical to those in the analyzed footage.
The video, published on December 1, 2022, features soccer player Jawad El Yamiq from Morocco. The video’s description notes that the Moroccan player celebrated his team’s victory against Canada by displaying the Palestinian flag.
In 2022, this act made headlines, His move in 2022 was reported, with coverage from reputable sources such as CNN. There are also available photos of El Yamiq holding the Palestinian flag from that year in various articles, found here, here and here.
The accuracy of the claim suggesting that Ronaldo was the one holding the Palestinian flag on the soccer field was also debunked by international fact-checking organizations. This claim, shared in English alongside a video featured on the Facebook page Kakanjski Portal, was reviewed by Reuters and Factly , both asserting that the individual in the video was Jawad El Yamiq.
Given the stated facts, we assess the post on the Facebook page Kakanjski Portal, which implies that the video clip shows Cristiano Ronaldo holding the Palestinian flag, as fake news.