Old video shared as Quran recitation visuals from the opening ceremony of FIFA World Cup 2022 - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
November 21, 2022
A video is being shared on social media claiming that it shows visuals of Quran recitation at the inaugural ceremony of the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar. This post claims Qatar is the first Muslim country to organise the FIFA World Cup and that it incorporated Islamic culture at the inaugural ceremony. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Video showing recent visuals of Quran recitation at the FIFA World Cup 2022 inaugural ceremony.
Fact: The post shared a one-year-old video showing the Quran recitation at the inauguration ceremony of the Al Thumama stadium in Qatar. Qatar inaugurated the Al Thumama stadium for Amir Cup Final in October 2021. During the FIFA World Cup 2022 opening ceremony on 20 November 2022, Ghanem Al-Moftah recited the verses of the Holy Quran in the presence of actor Morgan Freeman. But the video shared in the post is old and does not show recent visuals from the opening ceremony of the FIFA World Cup 2022. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
On reverse image search of the screenshots of the video, a video showing similar visuals was found published by the ‘Doha News’ on 24 October 2021. Sharing the video, Doha News reported that Qatar incorporated Islamic culture by reciting verses of the Quran during the inauguration of Al Thumama stadium, a venue selected for the 2022 FIFA World Cup tournament.
Al Thumama Stadium, the sixth of the 2022 Qatar World Cup stadiums, was inaugurated for the Amir Cup Final in October 2021. Incorporating Islamic traditions and children reciting the verses of the Quran, Qatar inaugurated the Al Thumama Stadium on 22 October 2021. Several news websites published articles and videos reporting the inauguration ceremony of Al Thumama stadium in Qatar. They can be seen here, here and here.
On 20 November 2022, during the opening ceremony of the FIFA World Cup 2022 tournament at the Al Bayt stadium in Qatar,  Qatari YouTuber Ghanem Al-Moftah recited the verses of Holy Quran in the presence of actor Morgan Freeman. News reports related to the inaugural ceremony of the FIFA World Cup 2022 tournament can be seen here and here. But the video shared in the post shows the old visuals from the inauguration ceremony of Al Thumama stadium, not from the opening ceremony of the FIFA World Cup 2022.
غانم المفتاح يستهل افتتاح المونديال بآيات من القرآن الكريم بحضور الممثل الامريكي مورغان فريمان#قطر2022 #كاس_العالم_قطر_2022#قنوات_الكاس #Qatar2022#FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/CUNmecrUum
To sum it up, an old video showing Quran recitation at the Al Thumama stadium inauguration ceremony from 2021 is shared as the visuals from the opening ceremony of FIFA World Cup 2022.