Sports

Did Brazilian soccer fans throw projectiles at the Brazilian soccer team coming home from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar? No, that's not true: The video on which this claim is based dates from 2018, and shows protesters throwing projectiles at a bus that they believed was part of the 2018 presidential campaign of former Brazilian leader Luiz Inácio Lula…

Does this video show a woman exposing her breasts at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, for which she was arrested? No, that is not true: the video began circulating on social media more than a year before the World Cup and appears to have been recorded in July of 2021. The statement appeared on numerous websites, including this November…

Did Qatar ban the German team's plane landing there for the FIFA World Cup because of the aircraft's inclusive logo and mural? No, that's not true: The plane left Frankfurt, Germany, and landed in Muscat, Oman, for training in mid-November. The German team boarded a smaller plane from there to fly the shorter distance to Qatar for the World Cup.…

Did actor Morgan Freeman announce after performing at the 2022 World Cup that he has converted to Islam? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that Freeman ever publicly confirmed that he converted to Islam. The claim appeared in a Facebook post published on November 23, 2022. The post's caption read: Morgan freeman converted to islamThe famouse hollywood actor#MorganFreeman…

Did Japan's soccer team trash a dressing room at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar after losing its November 27, 2022, match to Costa Rica? No, that's not true: These photos are still frames from a video filmed in a dressing room in Stadio Renzo Barbera in Palermo, Italy, a day after the Italian team lost a match to North…

Does a viral video show Al Jazeera footage of "Nazi Ukrainians" "arrested in Qatar after they drew swastikas on football posters"? No, that's not true: The network denied that it had anything to do with the clip using its logo. More importantly, the video did not contain shots of the scene with the purportedly existing posters or provide any verifiable…

Did a U.S.-based cable news network publish a story stating that Russian influencer Hasbulla Magomedov died in a drone strike while fighting in Ukraine? No, that's not true: The story is a satirical fake created to look like a credible news report that makes fun of a social media sensation with a genetic condition. The claim appeared in an Instagram…

Was a refugee from Ukraine recently caught defacing a tile floor with a swastika in a UK shopping center and then made to clean it off? No, that's not true: A bystander video of the incident first surfaced online in 2018, and no evidence exists that the young man scrubbing the swastika off the floor is a Ukrainian refugee. He…

Did Home Depot donate $1.7 million in October 2022 to former NFL player and 2022 Senate candidate Herschel Walker? No, that's not true: Bernard "Bernie" Marcus, a co-founder of Home Depot who retired from the company in 2002, made two donations totaling $1.75 million to a political action committee that supports Walker in his race for the U.S. Senate seat…

Did Ohio high school football player Kaden Clymer get the COVID-19 vaccine before he was found with a 6-foot-long clot in his leg? No, this claim lacks context. A local TV station covering the story later reported that Clymer had been diagnosed with IVC atresia, a vascular anomaly. "Kaden was never vaccinated before the blood clots were found," his sister,…

Did former NBA star Earvin "Magic" Johnson donate some of his blood in August 2022 to the Red Cross to help underprivileged communities fight COVID-19? No, that's not true: The image of a doctor taking blood from Johnson's arm is from the 2012 PBS Frontline documentary "Endgame: AIDS in Black America." Johnson first learned of his HIV diagnosis after a…

Is WNBA player Brittney Griner a "he" and not a "she"? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that Griner -- who uses "she," "her" and "hers" pronouns to describe herself -- identifies as a man. Griner has publicly discussed being misgendered and the effects it had on her mental health since at least 2015. The claim appeared in…

Was a DNA test ordered to "determine male or female prison" professional basketball player Brittany Griner would be placed in while imprisoned in Russia? No, that's not true: There have been no reports in any reputable media that a DNA test was ordered for Griner at any time since she has been in Russia. There is no corroboration of the…

Did winning Kentucky Derby jockey Sonny Leon turn down a White House invitation, saying he didn't want to see "a horse's ass"? No, that's not true: This is a fake quote that has been recycled since at least 2018 and previously debunked by Lead Stories. The claim appeared in a Facebook post on May 8, 2022. Beside the image of…