Claim
Rating
Explanation
In the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar, Saudi Arabia beat Argentina in a tournament upset, as Argentina are touted to be the tournament favorites. In the match held on 22nd November 2022, Saudi Arabian football team beat Argentina 2-1 and a purported clipping from the match is now shared in social media where a Saudi player had asked Messi to convert to Islam. The audio heard in the virally shared video claims that no matter what a person does in life, he’ll go to heaven the person converts to Islam. See here, here and here.
What’s the truth?
The audio is clipped from an old video from a cricket match between Sri Lanka and Pakistan that took place in 2014 during a third ODI in the Pakistan cricket team’s Tour of Sri Lanka which took place on 30th August 2014 in Dambulla.
After chasing the target which ensured Sri Lanka’s win of the match which also sealed the tournament in their favor, Dilshan was walking back to the pavilion when Pakistani cricketer Ahmed Shehzad told him that a person would go to heaven no matter what he does in life, if the person becomes a Muslim.
This audio is taken and edited with Saudi player Ali Al-Bulaihi’s interaction with Argentina’s Lionel Messi and spread in social media to claim that a Saudi player had asked Messi to become a Muslim.
Conclusion
In our search, we find that an altered video is shared to claim that a Saudi Arabian player had asked star footballer Lionel Messi to become a Muslim.
