2019 video from Russia shared as namaz offering during FIFA World Cup 2022 opening in Qatar

The video has no relation with the ongoing FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. The video is from Ak Bars Arena in Kazan, Russia in 2019.

A video showing a huge crowd reading Namaz on the ground of a stadium is widely circulating on social media after the opening ceremony of the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar yesterday. Users claim that the video shows people offering Namaz at the Qatar Football Stadium. 

The caption of the post states, “Namaz (Pray) in Qatar Football Stadium, Sub han Allah.”

Archive Link

Fact Check- 

We observed the ‘Kazan’ written on the stadium seats. Keeping this in mind, we ran a keyword search on Google whose results led us to the same video posted on YouTube by a verified channel in 2019. 

The caption of the video posted on 10 June 2019 states, “Praying in Stadium | Namaz in Kazan Stadium Russia.” The channel named ‘The message of Islam’ described the video as Namaz at the Kazan Stadium Russia.

A Facebook page named the ‘Nepal Muslim Community’ posted the video on 4 June 2019 with the caption, “The Salah of Eid Ulfitr praying Kazan Arena stadium in Kazan, Russia.”

Another Facebook page stated that the video dates back to 25 May 2019 with the caption ‘Prayers at Kazan Stadium, Tatarstan (May 25th 2019). Kazan hosted one of the largest breaking fasts in Russia. The Iftar was organized for 15,000 people, the largest number so far in Kazan. ”

The stadium seen in the video is Ak Bars Arena in Kazan, Russia. Below you can see the Google Street View of the stadium.

Since the video is available on the internet in 2019, it clearly is not related to the ongoing FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. The video is not from Qatar but from Kazan, Russia.

Conclusion-

Fact Crescendo found the claim made along with the viral video to be False. The viral video shows namaz prayers in the Kazan Stadium in Russia in 2019. It has no relation with the ongoing FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.