The clip was shared on Facebook here on November 28, 2022, and has since been viewed more than 700 times.
It shows a football match interrupted by the sound of the Azaan, or Muslim call to prayer. The referee then blows his whistle and goes to pick up the ball to halt play — a gesture that appears to be applauded by fans in the stadium.
Text on the video reads, “Game stopped at the time of Azaan. Ma Sha Allah.”
The post’s Hindi-language caption reads in part: “Match at the world’s biggest, most expensive and fast-paced World Cup was stopped at the time of Azaan. ‘Mashallah’ management of Qatar.”
“Mashallah” is an Islamic term of praise.
A screenshot of the misleading Facebook post, captured on December 3, 2022
The clip circulated with the false claim a week after the football World Cup kicked off in Qatar — the first World Cup in a Muslim nation.
The same 27-second clip was also shared elsewhere on Facebook alongside similar Hindi-language claims here and here; and on Twitter here and here.
It was also viewed thousands of times in YouTube videos here, here, here, here and here.
The clip, however, does not show a halt in play for prayers at the Qatar World Cup.
Keyword searches on Google found the clip corresponds to a longer video featured in a tweet by British sports website The Sportsman here on January 25, 2018.
The tweet’s caption reads: “Huge respect to Mark Clattenburg after he stopped a Saudi Arabian Cup game in the 95th minute when a call for prayer came over the speaker.”
The clip in the false posts corresponds to the two-second to 29-second mark of the video shared by The Sportsman.
The Sportsman’s tweet was embedded here in an article published by the Muslim Council of Hong Kong on January 26, 2018.
According to the article, Clattenburg — a former English Premier League official — suspended the Saudi King’s Cup match between Al-Feiha and Al-Fateh for two minutes when the call for prayer from a nearby mosque could be heard in the stadium.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the clip in the false posts (left) and the 2018 video (right):
Clattenburg’s actions were covered in reports by Al-Jazeera here and the BBC here. The latter report said the referee earned “widespread praise from football fans in the country”.
AFP has debunked other false and misleading claims about the World Cup in Qatar here.
Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford was dropped to the bench for Saturday's Premier League match at Wolves for "internal disciplinary" reasons.
Ronaldo will reportedly be paid $75 million as a player, with commercial deals taking his annual pay to nearly $200 million.
Charlotte Flair offered her first comments following her WWE SmackDown Women’s […]
Foles was able to walk to the sideline before leaving the field on a cart.
Gary Hahn made the callous reference to the migrant crisis in El Paso when mentioning the score of the Sun Bowl.
Watch UFC standout Paddy Pimblett spar an internet troll in a hilarious video.
A visiting high school player is facing a criminal charge after police say he punched a referee during a high school basketball game in Cohasset.
“We still won a lot of big games this year. … It’s a good feeling to know that the program is going in the right direction.”
Broadcast crews sometimes face the same challenges as the NFL teams they cover. Both adjust to personnel changes, schedule adjustments and study game tapes.
Roman Wilson appeared to have a long TD catch after a TCU interception, but officials ruled him short of the goal line. Then disaster struck for Michigan.
Pep Guardiola rued the loss of two points following a 1-1 draw at home to Everton but insisted he had no complaints about the visitors' approach in a fiery Premier League clash at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
Hear everything Ryan Day and C.J. Stroud said after the heartbreaking loss in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. #GoBucks
5 Things That Matter: Georgia hung on to beat Ohio State 42-41 to win the College Football Playoff semifinal Peach Bowl.
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart and quarterback Stetson Bennett had nothing but praise for Ohio State after the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. #GoBucks
Check out results and video highlights from Friday's star-studded FURY Pro Grappling 6 submission-only card in Philadelphia.
After being named interim Broncos coach, Jerry Rosburg fired ST coordinator Dwayne Stukes and OL coach Butch Barry.
The Browns have announced their seven inactives as Jaelon Darden is set to make his debut
Op-Ed: “We’ve boarded the ship and we are out to sea with a narcissist captain who is dead set on proving his naysayers wrong. The boat might sink, but the captain will not apologize.”
The All-American's parents waited to tell him until after the game.
Rafael Nadal lost his opening match of the season Saturday in the countdown to the defence of his Australian Open title, but women's world number one Iga Swiatek cruised to victory at the United Cup.
