Unrelated photos viral as gathering of Chennai Super Kings fans at 2023 IPL final

By: Ishita Goel
May 30 2023

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Context
On May 30, 2023, Chennai Super Kings(CSK) lifted the winners' trophy for the latest edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament after beating Gujarat Titans by 5 wickets. Since then, several visuals have surfaced on social media claiming to show the crowd cheering for CSK inside and outside the stadium in Ahmedabad before and after the final match.

We have identified three such images circulating on social media, which claim to show fans in yellow (which is also the color of the CSK jersey) gathered to cheer the team captained by MS Dhoni. All these images were shared with the identical caption: "Chennai Super Kings fans are crazy on a whole new level at Ahmedabad."

In Fact
An image shared by a Twitter user @Dilkhush895500 shows a crowd gathered in a T-shaped route around a statue, claiming to show CSK fans at Ahmedabad. We noted several arched structures in the area as well, which appeared to be carrying photos of people. Using a reverse image search, we were able to trace the original image back to 2012, when it was taken in Thailand. We found a report by The Telegraph, dated December 5, 2012, which carried the same image along with the caption, "Thai people wearing yellow shirts gather to listen to a speech by Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej at the Anatasamakom Throne Hall in Bangkok". The image was credited to Reuters. According to the report, this happened on the occasion of Bhumibol Adulyadej's 85th birthday. We were able to identify the same arched structures and the same statue at the center of the space in this much clearer version of the image. A video published by news outlet Al Jazeera in December 2012 also carried footage of the same event, showing the crowd clad in yellow around the same structures. The report talked about how vast crowds of Thais had turned out in Bangkok for a brief glimpse of the King on his 85th birthday.

Another image shared by @theanantkashyap on Twitter showed a sea of people clad in yellow on a road and buildings on both sides. We also noticed a few advertisement banners, including one for Samsung LCD TVs. We found that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, on January 23, 2022, posted this image, and tweeted, "#GreatEthiopianRun The biggest running event in #Africa Take part in it next time and have fun!" Further back, a Twitter account posted the image in November 2017, saying it was from the run in Addis Ababa. We also found that the MDG Achievement Fund published a wider version of the image and wrote, "Haile Gebreselassie kicks off the Great Ethiopian Run under the slogan "We Can End Poverty by 2015", clearly showing that it was taken sometime prior to 2015. A video of the run in Addis Ababa from the year 2010 showed very similar visuals of the same road covered by a sea of yellow, and the same billboard with the text 'Abyssinia Springs', as seen in the version published on the MDG site. Therefore, it is an old image from Addis Ababa, which has been shared over the years and was likely taken in the year 2010. The Great Ethiopian Run is an annual 10-km run that takes place in the capital city.

Yet another image, tweeted by @Ind_RAM_, showed a yellow crowd on the road and trees on either side. On the left side, we can see tall buildings. Through a reverse image search, we found that the viral image was posted by Spain's news agency EFE on Twitter on May 27, 2023, with a caption in Spanish that meant: "Push towards First Division. Thousands of fans have welcomed UD Las Palmas outside the Gran Canaria stadium." Spanish media outlet Mundo Deportivo also carried the image in a report from May 27 Las Palmas' match at the Gran Canaria stadium in Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Spain, and said it showed the "yellow tide before the game". Las Palmas is a football team in Spain who had a match against Deportivo Alaves on May 27. The UD Las Palmas team jersey color is yellow; therefore, people gathered in yellow T-shirts. 

The Verdict
The viral images are unrelated to the IPL 2023 final. Every mentioned image is from a different event and country. These images of crowds clad in yellow are being shared falsely to claim that they show Chennai Super Kings fans at the final held on May 29, 2023.