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| - A claim that Digital Satellite Television (DSTV), the Sub-Saharan African direct broadcast satellite service owned by MultiChoice, has set up a new channel to broadcast the Saudi Arabian League has surfaced online.
The claim is circulating following the recent signing of Portuguese football star, Cristiano Ronaldo by a Saudi Arabian club, Al-Nassr FC.
A fake Al-Nassr FC Facebook account on January 3, 2023, posted the claim with a caption thus:
“Al Nassr FC. DSTV Has Added A Saudi League Channel *240*.Ronaldo Effect(sic).”
The post has garnered more than 3,000 likes and over 1,500 shares on Facebook as of 7th of January, 2023.
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A Twitter user, @AsiimweMiles, had also tweeted the claim earlier on January 1, 2023, with another caption that read:
“DSTV has already added Saudi Arabian league on channel 240. This effect has been impacted on by a player who joined the league this season and thats non other than the GOAT. Ronaldo was given five private cars, stadium, restaurant and a Palace in Riyadh with complete security(sic).”
The tweet has garnered over 20 retweets and over 100 likes as of Saturday, 7th of January, 2023.
Similarly, another Twitter user, @DocOmeiza tweeted the claim on January 3, 2023 with a caption thus:
“Just In: DSTV Has Added A Saudi League Channel
(Channel 240). Ronaldo Effect.My G.O.A.T(sic).”
The tweet has garnered over 40 retweets and 100 likes as of Saturday, 7th of January, 2023.
CLAIM
DSTV added new channel to broadcast Saudi Arabian League due to Cristiano Ronaldo’s transfer.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is FALSE.
It will be recalled that Ronaldo had in December signed for Al-Nassr after his contract with Manchester United was terminated earlier in November 2022.
The 37-year-old was officially unveiled as an Al Nassr player on Tuesday, 3rd of January, 2023.
The Portuguese national football team captain signed a contract with the Saudi Arabian side that would see him remain at the club until 2025.
However, findings by The FactCheckHub revealed that the Channel 240, “Liyu Amharic HD” purported to have been added on DSTV is a horse racing Channel that has been in existence on the cable service provider’s packages prior to Ronaldo’s transfer to Al-Nassr football club.
The TV channel was added on Wednesday, 19th of January, 2022 on the DSTV.
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According to the information obtained from the DSTV website , Racing 240 “is a 24- hour horse racing channel operating under the auspices of 4RacingTV and is available in South Africa to all DStv Premium, Compact Plus , Compact, Family and Access customers on DStv.”
For further confirmation, The FactCheckHub reached out to the Nigerian branch of DSTV on Twitter and the company debunked the rumour.
THE VERDICT
The claim that DSTV added Channel 240 to broadcast Saudi Arabian League due to Ronaldo’s transfer is false; findings reveal that the horse racing channel has been in existence before Ronaldo moved to Al-Nassr FC.
Nurudeen Akewushola is a fact-checker with FactCheckHub. He has authored several fact checks which have contributed to the fight against information disorder. You can reach him via [email protected] and @NurudeenAkewus1 via Twitter.
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