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| - Rumors circulating on Facebook around New Year's Day in 2025 claimed the NBA, NCAA, NFL and NHL fired numerous referees for alleged involvement in bribery scandals or other forms of misconduct. At the time, the NCAA's inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff was in the thick of quarterfinal matchups.
For example, on Jan. 2, one Facebook user posted (archived), "NCAA BOMBSHELL: The NFL suddenly fired 2 referees who officiated the game between the Ohio State and the Oregon for being involved in the largest bribery scandal in NCAA history. Immediately, Oregon fans demanded a replay of the game, and this is the NCAA's response."
The user's post pointed to an article featuring the incorrect final score and incorrectly claiming Oregon still had games to prepare for in the current season. The story also read similar to those generated with artificial-intelligence (AI) tools, such as a conclusion wrapping the tale up in a forward-thinking and either fearful or inspirational tone.
Another user shared (archived) a similar rumor in an article about supposed referee firings from a different playoff game, between Boise State and Penn State.
However, neither rumor was true. Had the NCAA — or the NBA, NFL or NHL — recently fired referees for bribery or other misconduct, that would be major news on prominent sports news websites. A Google search located no such reporting.
The former post claimed the NFL fired two NCAA referees. The two organizations exist as separate entities. The user promoting the untrue rumor mistakenly failed to remove the mention of the NFL from the post, perhaps after copying and pasting a similar false post about the professional sports league.
Our research of these rumors found users promoting the false stories seized on buzz surrounding very recent sporting events. Facebook listed managers for the pages promoting the claims as residing in Indonesia, Nigeria, the Philippines, the U.S. and Vietnam. The articles associated with the posts displayed advertisements at an usually high rate, indicating one of the goals of users pushing the stories was advertising revenue.
Similar Rumors About NBA, NFL and NHL
In addition to the NCAA rumors, we located numerous posts promoting false claims about referee firings involving the NBA, NFL and NHL.
For example, on Dec. 25, 2024, a Facebook user posted (archived), "NBA Fires Referees from Mavericks-Timberwolves Game Amid Allegations of Misconduct." Like the other posts, the link associated with the post led to an article filled with ads.
Snopes received several emails asking about referee firings from NFL games in December 2024. Our search for an example located a Dec. 30 post (archived) and associated article, falsely claiming, "NFL BOMBSHELL: The NFL suddenly fired 4 referees who officiated the game between the Green Bay Packers and the Minnesota Vikings for being involved in the largest bribery scandal in NFL history. Immediately, Packers fans demanded a replay of the game, and this is the NFL's response."
Again, had any of these firings genuinely occurred, readers residing in the U.S. would find wall-to-wall coverage on CBS Sports Network, ESPN, Fox Sports and other sports-related TV channels, as well as on major news websites.
As for the NHL, a Jan. 2 post (archived) and article read, "NHL SHOCK: The NHL has abruptly fired two referees who officiated the Washington Capitals vs. Boston Bruins game due to their involvement in the biggest bribery scandal in NHL history."
The abundance on Facebook of these false rumors about referee firings suggested such posts might continue well into the future for the NBA, NCAA, NFL and NHL, as well as the MLB, WNBA and other big-name leagues.
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