An image of the Sri Lankan flag being displayed on the Burj Khalifa, the popular skyscraper of Dubai, is being circulated widely on social media claiming that the flag was displayed on the Dubai landmark after Sri Lanka's cricket team won the Asia Cup 2022 on September 11, 2022.
Sri Lanka beat Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2022 finale on September 11 at the Sharjah stadium. The image is being shared with the caption, "Burj Khalifa, Dubai #AsiaCup2022; Congratulations, Sri Lanka." Click here to view the post.
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BOOM found that the viral image is not recent, but from 2019. Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, displayed the national flag of Sri Lanka to show solidarity with the country after the terrorist attack in Colombo on Easter in 2019.
Fact Check
We ran a reverse image search on the viral photo and came across multiple articles containing the same image published in 2019. We found an article in the Emirates 24/7 website which used the same image, crediting international news agency AFP.
We then ran a keyword search which led us to the same image published by international stock photo website, Getty Images which credited the photo to Giuseppe Cacace. The caption on the image read, "A picture taken on April 25, 2019 shows the Gulf emirate's Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest skyscraper, lit with an image of Sri Lanka's national flag in solidarity with the country following the April 21 "terrorist" attacks against hotels and churches celebrating Easter that killed more than 200 people. (Photo by Giuseppe CACACE / AFP) (Photo credit should read GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images)"
BOOM also found the official Twitter account of Burj Khalifa which posted an image displaying the national flag of Sri Lanka in 2019. The image is captioned in English as, "lights up in solidarity with #SriLanka. #BurjKhalifa Here's to a world built on tolerance and coexistence."
Click here to view the tweet.
The Instagram account of Burj Khalifa by Emaar also posted the same image in 2019 with the caption, "برج خليفة يضيء تضامناً مع #سريلانكا. معاً نحو عالم يسوده السلام والتسامح
#BurjKhalifa lights up in solidarity with #SriLanka. Here's to a world built on tolerance and coexistence"
Click here to view the post.
Additionally, we did not find any news reports on Burj Khalifa being lit up with the Sri Lankan national flag after their recent victory in Asia Cup 2022.