Iran’s state TV has tried to revive the fake news that football star Cristiano Ronaldo hates Israel – something I have debunked on quite a few occasions.
In this latest attempt to flog a dead horse, they’ve dubbed a video of him speaking about children in Syria, making it sound like he hates Israeli fans the most.
Kian Sharifi, a journalist with a site that monitors the BBC, has not only debunked the video, he’s also brought up and debunked some of the other allegations of Ronaldo hating Israel:
The report included footage of an Israeli player running up to Ronaldo to swap shirts after Portugal beat Israel on 9 June, only to be snubbed.
— Kian Sharifi (@KianSharifi) June 18, 2022
Except the "Israeli player" in the video is Icelandic captain Aron Gunnarsson & the footage is from 2016—and Ronaldo didn't snub him. pic.twitter.com/JCOButa5EX
The report runs for over 2 mins and is chock-full of false claims about Ronaldo and his allegedly anti-Israel views.
— Kian Sharifi (@KianSharifi) June 18, 2022
Ronaldo hasn't expressed his views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
What is certain, however, is that he's not anti-Israel.https://t.co/Sxbj9MHrlv
It sounds like the Iranians really want Ronaldo.
Sorry, you can’t have him. He’s already ours!
Hat tip: Michael