Fake subtitles on Indonesia-Japan World Cup qualifier added to Ronaldo interview

Published on December 9, 2024 at 03:55
3 min read
By Felix NATHANIEL, AFP Indonesia

As Indonesia prepared to face Japan in a World Cup qualifier, an old video of football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo resurfaced in social media posts that falsely claimed it showed him announcing he would travel to the Southeast Asian archipelago to watch the game. The video, which racked up hundreds of thousands of views online, in fact shows the Portuguese player talking about the Champions League final against Liverpool in 2018.

"Cristiano Ronaldo came directly to the GBK Stadium," read Indonesian text overlaid on a SnackVideo post. "Watching Indonesia v Japan match live."

Gelora Bung Karno (GBK) Stadium is Indonesia's venue for the World Cup qualifier games in the capital Jakarta.

The clip shows Ronaldo speaking in English alongside Indonesian subtitles: "Yes, it's true. I will fly to Indonesia to watch Indonesia vs Japan live on November 15. Watching this match is the right decision for me because this is the match I've been waiting for."

Later in the clip, Ronaldo is seen walking through an airport.

Screenshot of false post, taken on December 4, 2024

Similar videos garnered hundreds of thousands of views on TikTok ahead of Indonesia's World Cup qualifier against Japan on November 15.

Japan hammered Indonesia 4-0, extending their lead at the top of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup and edging them closer to an eighth consecutive spot at football's premier spectacle.

Sporting legend Ronaldo, 39, is regularly the subject of misinformation in Muslim-majority Indonesia, where false rumours have previously circulated that he converted to Islam or refused to shake hands with the Israeli president in solidarity with Palestinians.

Many social media users appeared to believe the video showed Ronaldo announcing he would fly to Indonesia to watch the country play Japan.

"Awesome, Ronaldo is coming. Thank you CR7 for your support of the national team," one user commented.

"Welcome Mr. Ronaldo," another wrote.

Champions League interview

A reverse image search on Russian search engine Yandex found the original video posted on May 25, 2018 by TNT Sports, a UK and Ireland sports channel (archived link).

The video is titled: "Cristiano Ronaldo: Mohamed Salah is fantastic, but nothing like me."

It shows Ronaldo sharing his thoughts ahead of the Champions League final against Liverpool, specifically on Liverpool winger Mohamed Salah.

"He plays with the left, I play with the right. I'm tall, he's a little bit shorter. I play with the head, you know. We are completely different," he said.

At no point did Ronaldo mention Indonesia.

Below is a comparison between the false post (left) and the video uploaded by TNT Sports (right)

Screenshot of false post (left) and video by TNT Sports (right)

Meanwhile, the footage of Ronaldo walking through an airport is from 2018.

Reverse image searches on Google found the clip in a YouTube video posted by British newspaper The Daily Mail on July 1, 2018 (archived link).

According to the video's description, it shows Ronaldo in a state of "dejection" as he travelled home to Portugal after the country was knocked out of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Below is the comparison of the false post (left) and video uploaded by Daily Mail (right).

Screenshot comparison of false post (left) and Daily Mail's video (right)

AFP published similar photos of Ronaldo at the Zhukovsky airport outside Moscow.

AFP found no credible reports of Ronaldo travelling to Indonesia to watch the country play Japan on November 15.

Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.

E-mail