A post is being shared on social media with a claim that the leaked audio of a Saudi player asking Lionel Messi to convert to Islam can be heard in the viral video. Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Leaked audio of a Saudi player asking Lionel Messi to convert to Islam.
Fact: The audio in the posted video is not authentic; it has been edited. The audio clip from an old cricket match has been picked up and added to the Messi-Albulayhi video. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When the screenshots of the posted video were run through Google Reverse Image Search, it was found that many news agencies have published articles with similar visuals. The visuals are related to the recent FIFA World Cup match between Argentina and Saudi Arabia. However, none of the news agencies reported about Saudi player Al-Bulayhi asking Lionel Messi to convert to Islam. Al-Bulayhi revealed that he said – “You will not win, you will not win!”, to Lionel Messi. The articles on the incident can be read here, here, and here.
The audio clip in the posted video was picked up from a cricket match held in 2014. The audio belongs to an incident where Pakistan cricketer Ahmed Shehzad told Sri Lanka’s Tillakaratne Dilshan – “If you are a non-Muslim and you turn Muslim, no matter whatever you do in your life, straight to heaven.” The actual visuals related to the audio can be watched here.
To sum it up, an edited video is shared as leaked audio of a Saudi player asking Lionel Messi to convert to Islam.
