The Al Jazeera news network has denied broadcasting a video claiming Ukrainian fans were arrested in Qatar for adding Nazi graffiti to a picture of the World Cup 2022 mascot. The channel added that its logos had been used without its permission. No such arrest has been announced by the Qatari authorities and Ukraine did not even qualify for this year's football tournament. Additionally, many of the images visible in the clip – which repeats the Russian narrative that Ukraine is under the sway of Nazi ideology – are taken from events unrelated to the global competition.

“Nazi Ukrainians were arrested in Qatar after they drew swastikas on football posters,” reads a tweet from November 22, 2022, featuring a video with graphics and a logo resembling those of international news channel Al Jazeera.

A screenshot taken on December 5, 2022, of the false tweet

Similar claims were made in French, Serbian and Polish, garnering hundreds of views.

The video, viewed more than 180,000 times, includes a photo of Ukrainian fans cheering during a match and a poster of the FIFA World Cup 2022 mascot La’eeb wearing a moustache reminiscent of Adolf Hitler’s and the Nazi slogan "Sieg Heil" (hail to victory) daubed on it. Also included are visuals of police officers making an arrest.

The video, however, is a hoax.

Fabricated news report

The clip does not appear on Al Jazeera’s website. The network told AFP Fact Check the video was “completely fake” and that “Al Jazeera never published this or any...

Read Full Story: https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiSGh0dHBzOi8vbmV3cy55YWhvby5jb...