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Did football legend Lionel Messi just die suddenly in a high speed car accident?!

Take a look at the viral claims, and find out what the facts really are!

Updated @ 2023-11-01 : Updated with new information
Updated @ 2023-09-24 : Added video fact check and comparison!
Originally posted @ 2023-04-20

Claim : Lionel Messi Died Suddenly In High Speed Car Accident!

People are sharing TikTok and YouTube videos which claim that football legend Lionel Messi just died suddenly in a high-speed car accident, with photos of the tragic car crash!

Messi, Xavi and Christiano dead after car accident

#Rip Messie Messie❤️ respect for Messie ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️⚽️🥅
Messie the best of the world ❤️🇦🇷❤️❤️#Messie

LIONEL MESSI DIES IN UNBELIEVABLE CAR CRASH

INFO CHOC: Lionel Messi est décédé
SHOCK INFO: Lionel Messi has died

#fyp #soccer #messi #dead rest in peace legend👑⚽️🕊️

Truth : Lionel Messi Did NOT Die In High Speed Car Accident!

This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS created and propagated by people to generate income from page / video views and advertising, and here are the reasons why…

Fact #1 : No Legitimate Media Outlet Reported His Death

These social media posts, as well as YouTube and TikTok videos have been circulating for months now, but people don’t seem to notice that no legitimate media has reported on Lionel Messi’s death!

Lionel Messi is one of the world’s best footballer and a mega celebrity. His death would have been covered extensively by the media across the globe! And his fans would have mourned his death on social media.

Yet, no legitimate media outlet has reported that Lionel Messi died recently from any cause, never mind a tragic car accident. Why should you believe no-name websites, or random YouTube / TikTok videos?

Fact #2 : Lionel Messi Is Still Alive + Well!

Lionel Messi (born Lionel Andrés Messi on 24 June 1987) is still very much alive and well, as of Tuesday, 10 October 2023, when he posted a trailer of an upcoming animated series – Messi and the Giants, on his Instagram account!

On Saturday, 9 October 2023, Lionel Messi also played in the Inter Miami game against FC Cincinnati, after missing the last four games due to an old injury. Inter Miami did poorly in his absence, losing two games, and playing to a draw in two other games.

He returned to the field that day for just over half an hour, but was unable to turn things around. Cincinnati ended up winning the game 1-0.

Inter Miami coach Gerardo “Tara” Martino later said:

His injury is healed, but his rhythm was just off. He hasn’t played much, that’s why I only played him 35 minutes.

Despite his old injury cropping up again, Lionel Messi is very much still alive, many weeks and months after those social media posts, YouTube and Facebook videos claimed that he died suddenly in a tragic car accident!

Fact #3 : This Car Accident Photo Was From 2009

To convince you that Lionel Messi died (even though he’s still alive), the fake news creators had to make use of unrelated car crashes.

In this example, the video claimed that Lionel Messi, Xavi, and Cristiano Ronaldo, died in this car accident.

The truth is – that is a photo of a Ferrari 599 that crashed in October 2009, on the Great Ocean Road in southern Victoria, Australia. The driver was a 64 year-old man called Carlo Vaccari.

Mr. Vaccari lost control while driving his Ferrari 599 at 80 km/h and ploughed into two motorcyclists travelling in the opposite direction. He was convicted of careless driving, but only fined $3000.

Fact #4 : This Car Accident Photo Was Posted In 2014

It is unknown when this car accident happened, but this undated car accident photo was posted by WreckedExotics.com on August 13, 2014.

Apparently, the driver lost control of his Ferrari 458 Italia while trying to overtake another car, and crashed into a trash bin. The driver left the scene of the accident, possibly under the influence of drugs / alcohol.

Even though this incident happened in Madrid, Spain, this photo is old and has nothing to do with Lionel Messi.

Fact #5 : This Car Accident Occurred In 2012

This photo does not show Lionel Messi’s fatal car crash. This accident actually occurred at around 9 PM on 1 September 2012, at the E42 highway near Francorchamps in Belgium.

The driver was a 63 year-old man from Saint-Ghislain, and was obviously not Lionel Messi.

Fact #6 : Lionel Messi Death Hoax Is Driven By Fake Fact Check Too

This Lionel Messi death hoax is, ironically, also fuelled by MediaMass Project, which keeps “updating” the dates in its fake fact check article:

News of footballer Lionel Messi’s death spread quickly earlier this week causing concern among fans across the world. However the October 2023 report has now been confirmed as a complete hoax and just the latest in a string of fake celebrity death reports. Thankfully, the 36-year-old footballer is alive and well.

Rumors of the footballer’s alleged demise gained traction on Monday after a ‘R.I.P. Lionel Messi’ Facebook page attracted nearly one million of ‘likes’. Those who read the ‘About’ page were given a believable account of the Argentine footballer’s passing:

“At about 11 a.m. ET on Monday (October 30, 2023), our beloved footballer Lionel Messi passed away. Lionel Messi was born on June 24, 1987 in Rosario. He will be missed but not forgotten. Please show your sympathy and condolences by commenting on and liking this page.”

Hundreds of fans immediately started writing their messages of condolence on the Facebook page, expressing their sadness that the talented 36-year-old footballer was dead. And as usual, Twittersphere was frenzied over the death hoax.

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Their claim of a viral R.I.P. Lionel Messi Facebook page is false. There is no such Facebook page. It is their standard fake fact check spiel for fake celebrity deaths.

The statement from Lionel Messi’ unnamed rep confirming that he is not dead is exactly the same as statements from other celebrities whose reps MediaMass claimed were victims of death hoaxes, like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Barry Gibb, Bruce Willis, Clint Eastwood, Celine Dion, Cristiano Ronaldo, Dolly Parton, Harrison Ford, Justin Bieber, Lucy Liu, Madonna, Melanie Laurent, Morgan Freeman, Oprah Winfrey, Robert Pattinson, Simon Cowell, Sylvester Stallone, Taylor Swift, Toby Keith, and Tom Hanks..

He joins the long list of celebrities who have been victimized by this hoax. He’s still alive and well, stop believing what you see on the Internet.

Hidden in the description page for the MediaMass Project is a disclaimer that they are a “satire” website. That’s the usual “cover” for websites peddling fake news.

Regardless of their reasons, anything posted by MediaMass.net must be considered as fake news, until proven otherwise.

Fact #7 : This Is Just Fake Celebrity News

This is yet another example of fake celebrity news created to generate page views and money through advertising, just like these examples:

Please help us FIGHT FAKE NEWS by sharing this fact check article out, and please SUPPORT our work!

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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