To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement.
2 min
Kicking off this Thursday, the 2026 FIFA World Cup has faced its share of criticism before it has even begun. A viral video has sparked fresh backlash, appearing to show members of Senegal's national team being searched with metal detectors on the tarmac of a US airport. Online, some users have claimed the players were being "treated like criminals" and pointed to the footage as evidence of "unapologetic racism". A widely shared photo also appears to show the team's coach undergoing the same screening. But what do these images actually show?
Internet users have shared a viral video appearing to show the Senegalese national football team at a US airport being searched and scanned with metal detectors on the tarmac, with players asked to remove their shoes and have their bags inspected. Some users described the treatment as excessive for a national team preparing to take part in what is widely considered the world’s biggest sporting event.
Football fans claimed the footage was taken on arrival at San Antonio airport, calling it "public degradation on the tarmac" and accusing authorities of treating "top African football giants like suspects." Others described it as "brazen and unapologetic racism", arguing that white players "would not have been treated the same." A separate widely shared image appeared to show the team’s coach, Pape Thiaw, being frisked on the...
The Kristo Asafo Mission of Ghana has rejected claims that former Dome-Kwabenya Member of Parliament, Sarah Adwoa Safo, was shot during an incident at the church’s property at Kwabenya, describing...