Pages on social media circulated a report claiming that the International Federation of Association Football, "FIFA", had granted the Syrian Football Association the authority to use its frozen funds, coinciding with the removal of Syria's name from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.
The fact-checking team contacted an official source at the Syrian Football Association, who denied what was being circulated, explaining that no development or decision had come from "FIFA" in this regard up to the date this fact-check was prepared.
Why is this claim misleading?
Fabricated administrative decisions: The claim rested on a decision the international federation never issued, tied to a genuine political development, the removal of Syria from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, which lends the invented report plausibility and suggests outcomes that have not materialised.
