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Claim: A Facebook user shared a picture showing Brazilian football star Vinícius Júnior wearing a Sierra Leone national team jersey featuring the name of former Leone Stars captain and coach Mohamed Kallon.
Verdict: False. DUBAWA’s investigation shows that the image was digitally manipulated. We also found no credible independent report or official confirmation that the Brazilian footballer wore the jersey.
Full Text
A Facebook user, Samson Barrie, shared a picture of Vinicius Junior wearing a Sierra Leone national team jersey with Mohamed Kallon’s name on it.
The claim is accompanied by an image purportedly showing Vinícius Júnior wearing a Sierra Leone national team shirt displaying Mohamed Kallon’s name. The image has prompted interest because of Kallon’s contribution to Sierra Leonean football and Vinícius Júnior’s status as an internationally recognised player.
The post’s caption reads, “Wow! Vinicius Junior was spotted wearing a Sierra Leone national team jersey with Mohamed Kallon’s name on it.”
The post has generated over 159 likes, 7 comments and 1 share.
Other social media users shared the claim as seen here, here, here, here, and here.
Because the claim could mislead, DUBAWA decided to investigate.
Verification
DUBAWA examined the claim using image analysis and searches for independent confirmation.
First, DUBAWA submitted the image to two AI image detectors: Deep AI and Image Detector. Both tools indicated a likelihood of digital editing or manipulation exceeding 90%.
Photo: AI analysis of the image showing Vinicius Junior wearing a Sierra Leone national team jersey using Image Detector
Photo: AI analysis of the image showing Vinicius Junior wearing a Sierra Leone national team jersey.
These findings raise concerns about the image’s authenticity.
DUBAWA also examined the image using Online EXIF Viewer to extract and read hidden metadata but found no camera information. Meanwhile, the absence of such information does not necessarily mean the image was not taken with a camera, as metadata can be removed during editing or when images are shared online.
Also, Mohamed Kallon usually wore the number 10 jersey when playing with the national team, not the number 7. Furthermore, DUBAWA checked Vinicius Jr official social media handles, but we could not find such a photo or anything similar posted or reposted.
The AI-detection tools returned a score above 90%, indicating a strong likelihood of AI generation. Although this result does not conclusively establish the image’s origin, it raises further doubts about its authenticity.
Without an authenticated original photograph, reliable information about where and when it was taken, or confirmation from the footballer or his representatives, the image cannot be independently verified as genuine.
Conclusion
The claim is false. Two AI detectors assessed the image as more than 90% likely to have been digitally manipulated. DUBAWA also found no credible independent report to confirm the image’s authenticity.