Old footage of Ronaldo Singapore trip misrepresented as Indonesia visit

Published on February 26, 2025 at 09:46
8 min read
By AFP Indonesia

An Indonesian charity's claim that it had invited Cristiano Ronaldo to visit in February 2025 has sparked a flurry of online misinformation, including social media posts recirculating old videos falsely claimed to show the Portuguese footballer's arrival in the archipelago. The footage was taken during Ronaldo's trip to Singapore in 2023, and there have been no official reports of him setting foot in Indonesia this year.

"Cristiano Ronaldo when he arrived at Kupang," reads an Indonesian-language Facebook post shared February 19, 2025, referring to a city in the country's south.

The Facebook post includes a video that appears to show the Al Nassr star visiting a park while people gather to see him.

Screenshot of the false post captured February 20, 2025

Similar claims have spread alongside other versions of the clip on YouTube, SnackVideo and TikTok.

Local media reported a health foundation called Yayasan Graha Kasih Indonesia announced Ronaldo was expected to arrive in Kupang on February 18 (archived link).

However, East Nusa Tenggara province authorities said February 19 that the visit had not been confirmed yet -- and the head of police at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta called the information a "hoax" (archived here and here).

A reverse image search on Google found a similar video that Must Share News posted June 8, 2023 on TikTok (archived link). The Singaporean media outlet wrote that Ronaldo went to the Singapore Botanic Gardens in June 2023 (archived link).

Screenshot comparison between the false post (L) and the video from TikTok

AFP took photos of the same visit.

Portuguese football player Cristiano Ronaldo (2nd R) takes part in an event to support youth scholarships founded by philanthropist Peter Lim in Singapore on June 2, 2023 (AFP / Nicholas Yeo)

Portuguese football player Cristiano Ronaldo (C) takes part in an event to support youth scholarships founded by philanthropist Peter Lim in Singapore on June 2, 2023 (AFP / Nicholas Yeo)

More misrepresented footage

TikTok videos with thousands of views also falsely claim to show the Al Nassr footballer stopping in Singapore before heading to Kupang this year.

One clip shows him walking down a hallway wearing a red T-shirt and accompanied by several other people.

A reverse image search on Google led to a YouTube short shared June 6, 2023 with the title: "Up close with Cristiano Ronaldo in Marina Bay Sands, SG. 03-June 2023" (archived link).

Screenshot comparison of false post (L) and YouTube video (R)

Ronaldo also published pictures of him wearing the same T-shirt in the city-state on Instagram on June 5, 2023 (archived link).

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Cristiano Ronaldo (@cristiano)

A third post shows him getting out of a van with superimposed text that says: "Welcome to Jakarta, Indonesia Cristiano Ronaldo".

Subsequent reverse image and keyword searches on Google led to a clip uploaded June 5, 2023 on TikTok (archived link).

Screenshot comparison of false post (L) and TikTok video from 2023

Singapore-based news outlet The Straits Times and the official website of Victoria Junior College also published reports about his visit (archived here and here).

AFP geolocated the building in the background to CHIJ Katong Convent Singapore, which is located west of Victoria Junior College (archived link).

Screenshot comparison from the 2023 video (L) and Google Maps Street View

Several people in the video are also wearing yellow vests with "CERT" embossed in a red triangle on the back, corresponding with the logo for Singapore’s Community Emergency Response Team (archived link).

AFP has previously debunked misinformation related to Ronaldo's purported visit to Indonesia here and here.

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