Did the Referee Celebrate France’s Win at FIFA World Cup? No, the Video Is Old

The video dates back to 2015 and shows a match from the English Premier League.

Fact-check: This video is not from 2022 FIFA world cup from Qatar.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

An old video showing a referee running on the ground seemingly celebrating a goal is going viral on social media.

What does the claim say?: The claim states that the referee is celebrating France's victory goal against England during the FIFA World Cup 2022 quarter final match.

An archive can be seen here. 

(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)

But...?: The video is from English Premier League (EPL) match from 2015. The video shows referee Mike Dean running after football club Tottenham Hotspur scored an opening goal against Aston Villa.

How did we find out the truth?: A simple reverse image search led us to a YouTube video from 2015.

• The video was uploaded by a channel 'JustaReaction' on 3 November 2015.

• It was titled, "Referee Mike Dean celebrating Tottenham goal vs Aston Villa!"

Comparison between the viral video and the YouTube video from 2015.

(Source: Altered by The Quint)

Any reports about the incident?: We also found news reports about the incident from 2020.

• A podcast from 19 February 2020 named That Peter Crouch Podcast, hosted on the website of British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), included Dean's interview.

• In this interview, he spoke about his supposed celebration at the EPL in White Hart Lane, London.

“Probably the stupid Tottenham-Aston Villa advantage thing I did about four years ago is the most Mike Dean thing I’ve ever done."

Mike Dean, referee

• Another BBC report published on 20 January 2020 carried a video interview of Dean, where he clarifies that he was not actually celebrating the goal, but was celebrating him decision to play advantage.

• The video also carried the same viral video in the background.

Comparison between the viral video and the BBC interview from 2020.

(Source: Altered by The Quint)

Conclusion: An old video of a referee celebrating his decision of giving an advantage to a team in a football match in 2015 was falsely shared as a recent video from 2022 FIFA World Cup.

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