In 2023, Portugal International and Al-Nassr forward Christiano Ronaldo moved to the Middle East amidst controversial circumstances with his former club Manchester United. The ninth edition of the Women\u2019s World Cup also took place in the middle of the year, among other significant sports events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amidst all these, some sports-related claims sprung up, which DUBAWA was careful not to ignore due to their severe implications if found false. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Below is a compilation of our top ten sports fact-checks for the year:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Social media platforms buzzed when several news outlets and users online posted<\/a> that Hiba Abouk, wife of Moroccan and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) star Achraf Hakimi, was collecting over half of his fortune in the divorce settlement. However, she was dismayed when it was found out that the football star had allegedly signed off ownership of his assets in his mother\u2019s name.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n DUBAWA found the claim to be false<\/a>. The post originally emanated from a parody account before going viral across many countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0<\/strong>A Facebook user announced<\/a> that Sweden had declared sex as a sport and was set to host the first sex competition in the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n DUBAWA discovered that the rumour originated from a group founded in 2016 called the Swedish Sex Federation (SSF). However, a local radio outlet in Sweden announced that Mr Bractic had partnered with SSF to apply for Country Sports Confederation membership. Although the Sports Confederation acknowledged the application via a statement on Apr. 26, 2023, the process was incomplete and consequently rejected<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Jan. 15, 2023, an X (formerly Twitter) user (@nasirdaniya) posted<\/a> a collage that suggested that the ailing individual in the pictures was Peter Rufai, a former Super Eagles goalkeeper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DUBAWA confirmed Peter Rufai\u2019s photo at the post to be authentic. However, a Google Reverse Image Search reveals the man in the wheelchair is Peter Fregene\u2013 a former Nigerian international goalkeeper between 1968 and 1971.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An X (formerly Twitter) user (@kongtainment) wrote<\/a> on the social media platform that the feet of former Brazilian legend and football icon Edson Nascimento (popularly known as Pele) will be placed in a museum by the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) after permission from his family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A search on FIFA\u2019s official website showed there was no public announcement<\/a> on the website that corroborated the claim. There were only bundles of tributes showered in honour of the football icon.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n An X page @LeaguesReporter mocked<\/a> the Nigerian football league side seminar session Lobi Stars players for listening to a priest. The handler did a photo collage of the Makurdi football side with Remo Stars, who seemed to be in a rather \u201crealistic\u201d seminar session, compared to Lobi Stars, who appeared to be listening to a priest.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although the photo was taken at one event held during the club\u2019s seminar, it is a twisted representation of what happened<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some of the pictures uploaded on Facebook by the football team were of the players undergoing technical sessions in the classrooms. It was revealed that they were being taught \u201cthe laws of the game\u201d by a Nigerian referee, Iyorhe Shaagba, not by a priest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Amidst the Women\u2019s World Cup (WWC) tournament between July 20, 2023, and Aug. 20, 2023, some of the players on the Super Falcons squad earned lots of commendation for their campaign on the pitch. Amongst those players was Michelle Alozie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Facebook user, Emmy Worldclass, praised<\/a> the Nigerian football defender, reflecting her qualifications as a doctor and a football player.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DUBAWA visited Ms Alozie\u2019s LinkedIn profile and discovered that while she has a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Molecular Cellular Developmental Biology from Yale University (2015-2019), she is a medical researcher<\/a>, not a medical doctor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An X user @the_marcoll_boy wrote<\/a> on the microblogging platform that Christiano Ronaldo\u2019s unveiling at Al-Nassr earned more views than the 2022 World Cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A report by Trenddetail shared that five channels \u2013 Saudi Sports, 1SSC Saudi sports channels, Bein Sports news channel, Abu Dhabi Sports Channel, and Sports TV Portuguese channel) would televise the unveiling. However, there was still no tally of the number of viewers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Moreover, no evidence<\/a> shows that three billion (more than 37 per cent of the world\u2019s population) watched Mr Ronaldo\u2019s unveiling.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Facebook user, Bem Raphael Aondongu, posted<\/a> that England international Lauren James had been banned from the Women\u2019s World Cup tournament while it was still underway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ms James had been punished with a red card after stepping on Nigerian defender Michelle Alozie in their round-of-16 encounter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, an update by Yahoo! News noted that the England forward was only given a two<\/a>–<\/a>match ban<\/a> due to getting booked.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reuters quotes FIFA regarding the issue, saying, \u201cThe suspension will be served for the FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup quarter-final and the next international fixture following that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Facebook user, Seraph Yomi, posted<\/a> that Super Falcon\u2019s centre defender, Onome Ebi, is the first African player to have appeared in six World Cup tournament outings at 40.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DUBAWA found the assertion to be true.<\/a> News outlets such as Cable News Network (CNN), Punch, and Daily Sports all named Ebi the only African player to lead the golden oldies by participating in her sixth World Cup tournament at 40.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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