Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
Claim
Argentina’s football captain Lionel Messi watches highlights of Rohit Sharma’s sixes against Australia’s Mitchell Starc on TV, while training in a gym.
The archived version of the tweet can be seen here.
Fact
Newschecker ran a reverse image search of keyframes of the video, which led us to this tweet by a Twitter fanpage dedicated to football club Barcelona, dated December 30, 2019, where you can see that the player is on a treadmill, watching highlights of his matches.
A further search led us to multiple write-ups on the photo from December 2019, seen here, here and here, stating that a picture of Messi watching himself in action while on the treadmill has gone viral and that it had been clicked by a fan who was stunned to see the football star in her gym.
“Valentina Jure was just going to the gym. She thought it’d be a day like any other. Suddenly, through the door came a familiar face. At first, she wasn’t sure it was really him. But soon enough, she realised for sure. Lionel Messi had just entered a gym in Fisherton, a neighbourhood in Rosario, the city from which the Argentine legend hails,” read a Barca Blaugranes report, dated December 31, 2019, adding, “Valentina has proof, a photograph of the Barcelona star training on the treadmill. Amusingly, the TVs are showing a compilation of his goals and he is watching them as he runs. She posted the picture on Twitter.” The tweet can be seen here, which confirms that the viral image is edited.
Also Read: Viral Video Of Afghan Cricket Team Chanting ‘Vande Mataram’ Is Manipulated
Result: Altered Media
Sources
Tweet, Barca Universal, December 30, 2019
Barca Blaugranes report, December 31, 2019
Tweet, Valentina, December 30, 2019
If you would like us to fact-check a claim, give feedback or lodge a complaint, WhatsApp us at 9999499044 or email us at checkthis@newschecker.in. You can also visit the Contact Us page and fill out the form. Follow our WhatsApp channel for more updates.
Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
