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| - Fact Check: This footballer waving the Palestinian flag is NOT Cristiano Ronaldo
India Today Fact Check found that the man waving the Palestinian flag is Moroccan footballer Jawad El Yamiq. This happened after Morocco defeated Canada in the FIFA World Cup 2022.
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India Today Fact Check
The video doesn’t show Cristiano Ronaldo but Moroccan footballer Jawad El Yamiq. This happened after Morocco defeated Canada in the FIFA World Cup 2022.
Did Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo show his support for Palestine by waving its flag on the field amid the nation’s ongoing conflict with Israel? Many alleged so while sharing a video of a football player in a white jersey waving the Palestinian flag.
One such viral tweet read: "Star footballer Christiano Ronaldo is supporting Palestine by raising their flag after victory". This video was shared by many on Twitter. The archived version of one such viral post can be seen here.
India Today Fact Check found that the man raising the Palestinian flag in the video is Moroccan footballer Jawad El Yamiq, and this video shows him waving the flag after Morocco defeated Canada in the FIFA World Cup 2022.
Our Probe
Using relevant keywords, we found that the media organisation Middle East Eye shared the viral video on YouTube on December 2, 2022, saying that Moroccan player Jawad El Yamiq celebrated his team’s victory over Canada with a Palestinian flag during the World Cup.
Qatar-based Doha News also shared the video on Facebook with the same information. Reportedly, the incident took place in Doha's Al Thumama Football Stadium.
Pictures of Jawad El Yamiq raising the Palestinian flag can also be seen on the stock image website Getty Images.
In fact, according to news reports, Moroccan footballers also waved a Palestinian flag again, while celebrating their historic World Cup win over Spain on December 6, 2022. Thus it’s clear that the viral video does not show Ronaldo.
It is noteworthy that the North African country has on several occasions shown support for Palestine. According to an October 6 Morocco World News report, the chief of Moroccan diplomacy stated: “Morocco's position, as confirmed by King Mohammed VI, remains unchanged. The Palestinian issue is a fundamental and essential matter in Moroccan foreign policy.”
This is also not the first time that Ronaldo’s alleged support for Palestine has gone viral. In 2019, a digitally-edited image of Ronaldo went viral with the claim that he expressed solidarity with the people of Gaza by bandaging an eye. At the time, India Today fact-checked this claim. Again in 2022, it was falsely claimed that Ronaldo sold his "Golden Boot" award and donated the money to the children of Palestine.
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