Aminu Sale
A viral image has been circulating on social media that claims to show South Sudanese footballer Yuol Thor Riek signing with Premier League giants Manchester City at a press conference.
The striking image has sparked excitement among fans about the club’s latest signing.
However, our fact checking investigation reveals that the image is fake and no player by that name has signed with Manchester City. There is no credible evidence to support the claim made in the fabricated viral image.
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We initiated an exhaustive online search to find any official announcements from Manchester City FC confirming the purported transfer. None were found on the club’s website or official social media handles. No reputable sports news websites carried any reporting on Yuol Thor Riek signing for the club.
A reverse image search enabled us to determine that the viral photo showing Riek sitting alongside the Manchester City coach was manipulated using digital editing software.
Manchester City’s current actual head coach is Pep Guardiola. The person sitting next to the purported player in the fake image does not resemble Pep Guardiola on close examination. This is the first indicator that the image is not genuine.
The club did not make any announcements about signing the player in question. All official announcements of Manchester City FC player transfers and contracts are posted on their official website and social media pages. The absence of any statement around this purported deal confirms that this is a case of misinformation.
No matching images were found in Manchester City’s press kit photographs and media archives of the press conference where the viral image supposedly originated. This enabled us to conclusively establish that the entire press meet shown is fabricated.
Our investigation extended to researching the player profile of Yuol Thor Riek himself. No football player by that name currently plays for any club registered with the South Sudan Football Association as per records available with them.
Resources such as the Transfermarkt website – considered an authoritative source tracking worldwide football transfers – returned zero search results for Yuol Thor Riek. No football data provider lists any professional statistics or career details about him.
The fact that a player named Yuol Thor Riek has neither been officially registered with the South Sudanese football authorities in any capacity nor has verifiable statistics or career details available leads us to conclude that he does not exist as a professional footballer at any level.
Hence the entire claim made alongside the falsified image of Yuol Thor Riek pictured signing with Manchester City collapses once put through rigorous multi-source fact checking.
Viral misinformation often spreads rapidly via social media, instant messaging and forums – this incident highlights the need to cautiously verify sensational claims instead of sharing them without confirmation.
Unverified claims should be checked for authenticity across credible media, data sources and the organizations involved before further dissemination to determine factual accuracy.
Our investigation methodology relied on contacting Manchester City FC directly and the South Sudan Football Association through email and telephone for investigating the veracity of the Yuol Thor Riek transfer news.
Responses received officially from both organizations affirmed that no player transfer of that nature had taken place. The fabricated claim and altered image were expressly denied as misinformation.
While visual media enabling powerful storytelling spreads rapidly over social networks, users must remind themselves that images today can be effortlessly altered or misrepresented for sensational clickbait.
Fact checkers play a vital role in this era of viral misinformation spread through images, video and text using digital means. Responsible sharing must trump emotional reactions for avoiding the pitfalls of fake news.
Through the process of contextual reverse image search and a lack of credible substantiation across information sources, our investigation concludes that the viral image in this case is fake.
No evidence exists demonstrating South Sudanese national Yuol Thor Riek was signed with English giants Manchester City FC as depicted in the falsified social media image.
We have arrived at our fact check verdict based on thorough investigative analysis using forensic visual media examination and multi-source confirmation. This case illustrates the expansion of misinformation to even sports news and the need to vet sensational claims.