Japanese fans did not litter the stadiums at the FIFA World Cup 2022

Originally, the video shows Japan fans cleaning up the stadium after their famous FIFA World Cup win over Germany. The viral video is edited and reversed.

After a recent FIFA World Cup match between Japan and Costa Rica Japanese fans cleared the litter from the stands. Reports mentioned that the Japanese fans were overjoyed after a famous FIFA World Cup win but that didn’t make them forget what has almost become a post-match ritual for them: collecting the litter and cleaning up the area before leaving.

In the backdrop of this, a video showing Japanese fans littering the stadium is circulating on social media. Users claim that the video clearly shows the Japanese fans taking out trash from their bags and littering the stadium. 

The video was shared by the official account of Andy Ha. The caption of the video states, “Footage of Japan fans taking litter out of a bag and leaving it all over the stadium whilst laughing and smiling. Disgraceful scenes.”

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Fact Check- 

We started our investigation by carefully observing the viral video; we noticed that the people were walking backwards which hinted that the video could be reversed.

We ran a keyword search to find the same video on social media platforms. The results led us to the same video posted by Alkass, a Qatar-based group of sports channels on 23 November 2022. The caption of the post states, ‘Despite the victory over Germany, the Japanese fans do not forget their traditions after the end of the match.’

We can clearly see that the video shows Japanese fans picking up the trash in the bags instead of throwing them around. This means that the viral video is digitally edited and reversed to portray that the Japanese fans were littering the stadium instead of cleaning it. 

Ticker News and Football Tweets have posted the same video on their official Twitter account stating that it shows Japan fans cleaning up the stadium after their famous World Cup win over Germany.

According to the Express UK, in celebration, some Japanese supporters picked up bin bags and helped clean up the rubbish left behind by supporters at the game. It was not the first time they have helped to tidy up behind themselves after footage from the opening matches of the tournament showed them doing the same. 

Below you can see the comparison between the viral video and the original video. 

We also found reports that stated that despite losing to Costa Rica 0-1, the Japanese team’s fans were praised by FIFA for helping staff at Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium clean up after the match.

Conclusion- 

Fact Crescendo found the viral video in circulation to be Altered. The viral video does not show the Japanese fans taking trash out of their bags and littering the stadium after the match at the FIFA World Cup 2022. The video is reversed and is being shared to portray that the Japanese fans were littering the stadium instead of cleaning it. Originally, the video shows Japan fans cleaning up the stadium after their famous World Cup win over Germany.