Clip shows Bahrain goalkeeper celebrating trophy win, not shouting at Indonesia fans after World Cup qualifier

After a contentious equaliser denied Indonesia a win in their World Cup qualifier with Bahrain in October, a video of the Bahrain goalkeeper gesticulating on a football pitch was shared in posts that falsely claimed he was reacting to fans saying the match referee was biased. The video in fact shows the keeper celebrating after his side won the King's Cup in March.

"Bahrain goalkeeper furious at Indonesian supporters after they said the referee helped Bahrain," read overlaid Indonesian-language text on a Facebook video shared on October 13, 2024.

The video shows goalkeeper Ebrahim Lutfalla, shouting and gesticulating on a football pitch while surrounded by teammates.

The overlaid text is repeated in the video's caption.

"Remember his face. We'll wait for you at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium. May you have a strong mentality," it added, referring to the stadium in Jakarta where Indonesia play most of their home matches.

<span>Screenshot of the false Facebook post, captured on October 29, 2024</span>
Screenshot of the false Facebook post, captured on October 29, 2024

The clip was shared alongside similar claims elsewhere on Facebook here, here and here, racking up more than 52,000 views in total.

It circulated after Bahrain scored a late goal to salvage a 2-2 draw with Indonesia in a 2026 World Cup qualifier played on October 10.

Bahrain's equaliser came in the ninth minute of stoppage time -- beyond the six minutes initially indicated by match officials -- sparking protests from the Indonesian side (archived link).

The fallout continued in the weeks after the match, with Bahrain's football association (BFA) alleging their players had been "subjected to a torrent of insults, slander, threats and hacking operations" online (archived link).

The video shared online, however, does not show Lutfalla reacting to Indonesian supporters' complaints..

King's Cup final

A keyword search on Google led to the same clip posted on the BFA's official Instagram account on March 10 -- seven months before Bahrain and Indonesia clashed in World Cup qualifying (archived link).

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the false post (left) and the original video from BFA's Instagram (right):

<span>Screenshot comparison between the video in the false post (left) and the original video from BFA's Instagram account (right)</span>
Screenshot comparison between the video in the false post (left) and the original video from BFA's Instagram account (right)

The Instagram video shows Lutfalla celebrating after his team Al Ahli beat Al Muharraq to win the King's Cup (archived link).

The match finished 1-1 after extra time, but Al Ahli won 4-2 on penalties with Lutfalla saving two penalties in the shootout.

His celebrations were also shown from a different angle on the BFA's YouTube channel (archived link).

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the falsely shared video (left) and the BFA video (right), with similarities highlighted by AFP:

<span>Screenshot comparison of the video in the falsely shared video (left) and the BFA video (right)</span>
Screenshot comparison of the video in the falsely shared video (left) and the BFA video (right)

AFP has debunked other misinformation related to the controversial Bahrain-Indonesia match here, here and here.