On July 14-15, a quote attributed to Cristiano Ronaldo was disseminated on Facebook: “If I say I love Israel like other football players do, I will be chosen as the best player in the world every year. I support Palestine and mourn the innocent children who die there.”
The mentioned quote is fabricated and falsely attributed to Cristiano Ronaldo. The football player has not made any official statements regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Over the years, various false claims supporting Palestine have been disseminated in Ronaldo’s name. This particular quote has been spreading for years, first appearing on Facebook in 2014, and resurfacing in the fall of 2023 after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas. In October 2023, this quote was debunked by the Kazakh fact-checking service Factcheck.kz, and in January 2024, by the Ukrainian fact-checking service Vox Ukraine. Both publications note that such a quote from the football player cannot be found in open and reliable sources, and one of the earliest sources of the post is the Facebook page Supporters of Palestine-Asian Chapter.
False information about Ronaldo regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict has been spreading for years.
Along with this quote, several other false claims about Ronaldo can be found over the years: Ronaldo refused to exchange jerseys with Israeli players, Ronaldo donated the proceeds from the auction sale of his “Golden Boot” to Palestinian children, and Ronaldo refused to meet with the Prime Minister of Israel.
In 2019, the footballer’s representatives denied that Ronaldo donated the proceeds from the sale of the “Golden boot” to Palestinians. It is also noteworthy that Ronaldo has met with several Israeli ministers at different times and even gifted his jersey to Israel’s former Foreign Minister Israel Katz.
Another widely circulated fake photo shows Ronaldo supposedly holding a pro-Palestinian poster.
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Altered Photo |
Authentic Photo |
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The authentic photo was taken in 2018, where Ronaldo is holding a poster supporting the city of Lorca with the inscription “Forza Lorca.” The city was affected by a severe earthquake in southeastern Spain, and Real Madrid held a charity match to support it.
In 2021, two videos circulated claiming Ronaldo refused to shake hands with the President of Israel and an Israeli man. AFP verified these videos: in one, Ronaldo does not shake hands with then-UEFA President Michel Platini, and in the other, he is taking off his medal, while the man he allegedly refused to shake hands with is the Italian ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
In the fall of 2023, footage was disseminated claiming Ronaldo expressed support for Palestinians in a video message, but the video was actually about children affected by the conflict in Syria. Another video purported to show Ronaldo unfurling a Palestinian flag on the field, but in reality, the footage showed Moroccan footballer Jawad El Yamiq. These clips were verified by Reuters.
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