Olympian Arshad Nadeem did not say Nawaz Sharif’s political struggle inspired him
The viral screenshot is fake
Claim: A screenshot of a Whatsapp chat suggests that Pakistan’s Olympic javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem said that PML-N’s Nawaz Sharif”s political struggle inspired him to win a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games 2022 despite an injury.
Fact: Arshad Nadeem clarified he did not have any such conversation with anyone and the screenshot doing the rounds on social media is fake.
Fact or Fiction?
On 8 August 2021, Facebook page Social Media Trends shared a screenshot of a Whatsapp chat of Pakistan’s Olympian javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem. The chat suggests that Nadeem had said “پٹواریوں نے ارشد ندیم کا گولڈ میڈل بھی نواز شریف کے کھاتے میں ڈال دیا [Although my arm was injured, my leader Mian Nawaz Sharif’s spirit to fight against difficulties gave me courage].”
The page shared the photo with the caption, پٹواریوں نے ارشد ندیم کا گولڈ میڈل بھی نواز شریف کے” کھاتے میں ڈال دیا [Patwaris have given credit to Nawaz Sharif for Arshad Nadeem’s gold medal].” The word patwaris is used to refer to Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) workers by political opponents.
Nadeem won a gold medal for Pakistan at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games after hurling a spear to a record-breaking distance of 90.18 metres.
Soch Fact Check found the claim to be false. In response to the photo circulating on social media, Nadeem clarified on 10 August 2022 that he did not have any such conversation with anyone and the screenshot doing the rounds on social media is fake.
“ابھی دیکھا کہ یہ فیک واٹس ایپ والے میسجز بنا کے سوشل میڈیا پر پھیلائے جارہے ہیں۔ نوٹ فرمالیں کہ میری ایسی کوئی گفتگو کسی کے ساتھ کسی کے بھی بارے میں نہیں ہوئی۔ لہذا اس طرح کہ سب سکرین شاٹ اور فیک اکاؤنٹس کو مکمل مسترد کردیا کریں۔ شکریہ [Just noticed that these fake WhatsApp messages are being spread on social media. Please note that I have not had any such conversation with anyone about anyone. So completely reject all screenshots and fake accounts. Thanks],” he tweeted.
ابھی دیکھا کہ یہ فیک واٹس ایپ والے میسجز بنا کے سوشل میڈیا پر پھیلائے جارہے ہیں۔ نوٹ فرمالیں کہ میری ایسی کوئی گفتگو کسی کے ساتھ کسی کے بھی بارے میں نہیں ہوئی۔ لہذا اس طرح کہ سب سکرین شاٹ اور فیک اکاؤنٹس کو مکمل مسترد کردیا کریں۔ شکریہ 🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/DjG9kgWbK2
— Arshad Nadeem (@ArshadOlympian1) August 10, 2022
Virality
According to a CrowdTangle analysis conducted by Soch Fact Check, the search term, “ میان نواز شریف ارشد ندیم [Mian Nawaz Sharif Arshad Nadeem]”, turned up six posts on Facebook which 1,021 interactions over the 30-day period leading up to 28 August 2022.
The analysis revealed that Shugal On Ha’s post is doing 900 times better than other similar posts on Facebook with 770 likes and 44 shares. While Hadd hogayi sharaafat ki’s post received 43 likes and three shares.
The viral screenshot on Facebook can be found here, here, here and here.
On Twitter, it was shared here.
Conclusion: Arshad Nadeem did not say that PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif”s struggle inspired him to win a gold medal at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. The Olympian clarified the viral screenshot is fake.
