Unrelated Images Shared as Enormous Crowd Supporting CSK Ahead of IPL 2023 Final - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 29, 2023
Update (01 June 2023):
Another video of massive crowd is being shared as fans cheering for CSK in the final match of IPL 2023 at Narendra Modi stadium. Upon investigation, we discovered that a video is actually footage from a football game in Germany. The original video was uploaded by Patrick Berger, a German sports journalist and chief reporter at Sport1 on 27 May 2023. The flags in the video had “BVB” written on them, which stands for Borussia Dortmund, a German football club. Reports indicate that Borussia Dortmund played against Mainz in the Bundesliga football league on May 27 at Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund, Germany. Borussia Dortmund’s official Twitter account also posted a similar video on May 27.
#BVB– Stimmung? Stimmt schon mal … ⚫️🟡 @SPORT1 pic.twitter.com/QkdNYGvNNL
Published (29 May 2023):
Ahead of the highly anticipated final match of the Indian Premier League 2023 between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Gujarat Titans (GT), several images of a massive and densely packed crowd wearing yellow T-shirts are being shared as fans of the CSK team. Let’s verify the authenticity of these images.
Claim: Images showing a large crowd of CSK fans, wearing yellow T-shirts, and filling the streets, in anticipation of the IPL 2023 final match.
Fact: The first image depicts participants in the 2010 edition of the Great Ethiopian Running event in Addis Ababa. The second image captures a crowd gathered for the 85th birthday celebrations of Thailand’s former king, Bhumibol Adulyadej, on 05 December 2012, in Bangkok. The third image shows football fans of the team UD Las Palmas outside the Gran Canaria stadium in Spain. Since none of these images showcases CSK fans, the claims made in the post are FALSE.
Image 1:
A reverse image search found a clearer and uncropped version of the viral image on the UN’s MDG Achievement Fund website. The image is specifically identified as portraying the crowd at the Great Ethiopian Run, an annual road running event held in Ethiopia that is renowned for its global participation from individuals across different countries.
Upon closer inspection of the image, it is evident that the jerseys worn by the participants are predominantly yellow, while the sleeves are distinctly green in colour. Furthermore, a banner visible in the image features the name “Abyssinia Springs,” which corresponds to an Ethiopian bottled water brand.
Building upon these visual cues, further research was conducted, confirming that this photo corresponds to the 2010 edition of the Great Ethiopian Run. Additionally, the existence of this event’s video on the UN MDG’s website corroborates the evidence gathered from the image examination. More videos of the event can be seen here & here.
This evidence establishes that the image indeed captures the participants of the Great Ethiopian Run, held in Ethiopia, rather than depicting fans of CSK.
Image 2:
Likewise, conducting a reverse image search of the second image unveiled that it, in fact, captures the crowd assembled in Bangkok for the 85th birthday celebrations of Thailand’s former king, Bhumibol Adulyadej, on 05 December 2012.
AFP had previously debunked this image when it went viral, falsely claiming it to be a Kenyan political rally.
Image 3:
Similarly, a reverse image search found that the same image was posted by the sports Twitter handle of the Spanish news agency EFE on 27 May 2023.  The description of the image states that thousands of fans welcomed UD Las Palmas outside the Gran Canaria stadium during a match in the La Liga football league. Other local Spanish media sources also reported the image.
#EFEfotos | 🔥 Empujón hacia Primera.  Miles de aficionados han recibido a la UD Las Palmas en el exterior del estadio de Gran Canaria. #LaLigaSmartBank pic.twitter.com/lwZo0pAt9k
UD Las Palmas is a football team based in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Spain. UD Las Palmas traditionally wears yellow jerseys as their primary colour for home matches. It is common for fans and supporters of UD Las Palmas to wear yellow jerseys during matches to show their allegiance to the team. Google Street View images outside of the stadium confirm that the image is indeed from Gran Canaria stadium, Spain, not India.
Furthermore, it should be noted that the same picture was falsely circulated as an image depicting the followers of the Telugu Desam Party during the recently held Mahanadu event in Rajamahendravaram, Andhra Pradesh. However, as mentioned above, the picture actually shows football fans in Spain.
To sum it up, unrelated images are being circulated, falsely claiming to depict the enormous crowd gathered to support CSK ahead of the IPL 2023 Final match.