Video shows Real Madrid player thanking supporters, not claiming Indonesian ancestry

  • Published on October 23, 2024 at 11:28
  • 3 min read
  • By AFP Indonesia
Indonesia's national football team has drafted a string of foreign-born players who claim Indonesian heritage to boost its chances ahead of the 2026 World Cup, but a video shared online does not show Spanish player Lucas Vazquez saying he wanted to play for the Southeast Asian country. The Spanish-language clip garnered millions of views in social media posts claiming it showed him saying he had Indonesian blood and was "ready to be naturalised", but he was in fact thanking fans for their support.

"This Real Madrid main player admits to having Surabaya ancestry and is ready to be naturalised," read a Facebook post that shared the video on October 8, 2024, referring to Indonesia's second-biggest city.

The clip shows Vazquez speaking in Spanish alongside Indonesian text that claims he was talking about his "Surabaya ancestry".

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Screenshot of the false post, captured on October 17, 2024

The posts surfaced as Indonesia geared up to play Bahrain on October 10 and China on October 15 in the Asian qualifiers of the 2026 World Cup.

Many players on Indonesia's national football team -- known by its nickname Garuda -- were born overseas and became Indonesian citizens in order to play for the country, reportedly claiming Indonesian ancestry (archived link).

Some social media appeared to believe the video showed Vazquez saying he was of Indonesian descent. 

"Top class player, proclaimed as a descendant of Surabaya, worthy to be naturalised," one commented.

Another wrote: "That is the power of God, so many European players of Indonesian descent want to join the Garuda team under the leadership of football association chairman Erick Thohir."

The video was shared in similar posts on Facebook, Threads, YouTube and TikTok, racking up more than 19 million views in total.

Fabricated remarks

A Google reverse image search and keyword searches on social media found the video posted on Real Madrid's official X account on September 25, 2024 (archived link).

It was posted after the Spanish giants beat Alaves 3-2, with Vazquez scoring his side's first goal (archived link).

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video shared in false posts (left) and from Real Madrid's X account (right):

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Screenshot comparison of the video shared in false posts (left) and from Real Madrid's X account (right)

The video was posted with a translation into English of Vazquez saying: "Thank you so much for your support Madridistas. It was an important match and a good win and now we get ready for Sunday and the derby. Hala Madrid! (Go Madrid!)"

The Spanish words "vuestro apoyo" -- which means "your support" -- are pronounced similarly to "Surabaya" in the Javanese dialect.

Vazquez does not mention Indonesia in the video.

According to FIFA rules, the 33-year-old footballer would not be eligible to play for Indonesia in the 2026 World Cup even if he became a citizen of the country because he has played for Spain, including at the 2018 World Cup (archived link).

Misinformation about football regularly circulates in soccer-mad Indonesia. AFP has previously fact-checked various false claim, including a manipulated video appearing to show Dutch-born player Maarten Paes speaking fluent Indonesian.

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