Ivory Coast and Nigerian team during the AFCON 2023 group stage. Photo source: Aljazeera.
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Claim: An image shows the Ivory Coast goalkeeper purportedly wearing a charm during the AFCON finals.
Verdict: Contrary to speculations, the goalkeeper in the viral claim is Abdoulaye Diakhaté, a Senegalese footballer playing for the ASC Jaraaf club. The image was taken from an Aug. 27, 2023, match and has nothing to do with the recently concluded AFCON. The claim is false.
Full Text
It is no news that the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) has ended. On the flip side, however, this does not look like the case on social media as various allegations have trailed the battle that led to the victory of the Les Elephant, as the national football team of Ivory Coast is called.
A notable one among these accusations is an image circulating on Facebook. The photograph depicts a goalkeeper wearing a black object secured with a rope around his waist. The unidentified item becomes apparent as the goalkeeper leaps to catch a ball. Accompanying this image is a caption claiming the footballer to be an Ivory Coast goalkeeper who supposedly wore a charm during the final AFCON match, resulting in Nigeria’s loss.
This image has led to an uproar, with Shehu Sani, a former Nigerian senator, demanding that FIFA probes the charm allegedly worn by the Ivory Coast goalkeeper during the final game.
“If Fifa failed to do so, next time we should go with the crew of our native Doctors,” he wrote on his X handle.
Apart from Mr Sani’s sentiments, Reuben Abati, a famous television anchor, and other Nigerians have also shared similar claims.
Superstitions abound around footballers relying on the use of magical powers. But did the image truly show an Ivory Coast goalkeeper during the final AFCON game as claimed?
DUBAWA conducted this verification to set the records straight.
Verification
Yahia Fofana, 23, is the goalkeeper who played for the Ivory Coast national team on Sunday, Feb. 11th, 2024. DUBAWA observed that the captions accompanying this assertion, where it has appeared, stated that Mr Fofana was seen with the charm in a video. While the speculations referred to a video, none included the specific clip or, at the very least, a link to it. Instead, an image, presumed to be a screenshot, was attached.
Two more discoveries further questioned the authenticity of this claim. The first was that the AFCON finals kicked off at 20:00 (GMT) at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Abidjan. That was 9:00 PM in Nigeria. Contrarily, the circulating image seemed to be captured in broad daylight.
Another point to note is the emptiness of the stadium. Unlike the image portraying a partially unoccupied area where the goalkeeper was positioned, the Ouattara Stadium, which hosted the AFCON finals, was filled.
Next, we collected some pictures from Mr Fofana’s Instagram handle, making sure they were specifically taken during the final game. For the match, he sported a black jersey, complemented by orange gloves with black designs, black socks with grey lines, and a pair of black boots adorned with white and orange patterns. Crucially, the jersey he wore displayed the number “1.” In contrast, the supposed charm user was identified with the number “16” and was dressed in a purple jersey, purple socks, and green boots.
Just above the number 16 label, we observed the letters “ASC JARAAF.” Conducting a keyword search on Google revealed it to be the name of a Senegalese football club based in Dakar. Two goalkeepers, Ousseynou Ndiour and Pape-Seydou Ndiaye, have played for the team, wearing the number 16 jersey since 2010. However, after the exit of Mr Ndiaye in 2021, Abdoulaye Diakhaté took over in 2022.
Since the face of this goalkeeper was hidden, it became difficult to determine which of the three ASC Jaraaf goalkeepers it was. While conducting more keyword searches on each of the three athletes, we found two videos that proved the goalkeeper in question to be Abdoulaye Diakhaté.
Who is Abdoulaye Diakhaté?
Abdoulaye Diakhaté, 27, is a professional footballer from Senegal. Born on Feb. 12, 1997, he joined the ASC Jaraaf on Aug. 3, 2022, as a goalkeeper after he left ASC Saloum, another Senegalese club.
On Aug. 27, 2023, the ASC Jaraaf won the Senegal Cup in a match against Stade de Mbour. According to one of the videos, the team was going home with the trophy for the 16th time. Another footage captioned “Le meilleur gardien de la finale de la Coupe du Sénégal Abdoulaye Diakhaté” and translated in English to mean “The best goalkeeper of the Senegal Cup final Abdoulaye Diakhaté,” identified Diakhaté, who ran towards the crowd in celebration of his club’s victory.
Apart from the item secured around his waist, Mr Diakhaté wore an outfit identical to the one worn by the person in the viral image, confirming that he was the one.
Conclusion
The image in circulation has no connection with the just concluded AFCON. The footballer captured with an object tied around his waist is Abdoulaye Diakhaté, a Senegalese goalkeeper who plays for the ASC Jaraaf. The claim is false.
