Old video of religious conversion linked to FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar

A video of a group of people reciting Islamic verses on a basketball court is circulating with the claim that it shows people embracing Islam at the FIFA World Cup currently underway in Qatar.

By Md Mahfooz Alam  Published on  29 Nov 2022 11:03 AM GMT
Old video of religious conversion linked to FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar

Hyderabad: A video of a group of people reciting Islamic verses on a basketball court is circulating with the claim that it shows people embracing Islam at the FIFA World Cup currently underway in Qatar.

A Facebook user shared the video and wrote, "As World Cup continues in Qatar, people will simultaneously be invited to embrace Islam…" (Translated)


Several other Facebook and Twitter users have shared the video with the same claim.

Fact Check

NewsMeter performed a reverse image search of the video's keyframe and found the same video, but of better resolution, uploaded on YouTube on 14 March 2018. The video is titled "60 Filipinos convert to Islam."

A YouTube channel, Stories of New Muslims, had also uploaded the same video on YouTube on 11 March 2018. According to the description, 60 employees of the Challenger company in Qatar embraced Islam on 9 March 2018.

Another YouTube channel, Lama Ammar, had uploaded the same video on 11 March 2018. It also said that 60 Filipinos working at Challenger company had converted to Islam in Doha, Qatar.

Lastly, we searched for the Challenger company in Qatar and found a YouTube video showing the company's premises. In this video, we found the basketball court with the same visual as seen in the viral video.


It is evident that the viral video of the religious conversion is from Qatar but dates back to 2018. It is not related to the ongoing FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Hence, the claim is misleading.

Claim Review:Video shows religious conversion during FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar.
Claimed By:Social Media users
Claim Reviewed By:NewsMeter
Claim Source:Facebook, Twitter
Claim Fact Check:Misleading
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