A viral photo showing Brazilian football legend Pele kneeling in front of Diego Maradona's grave is morphed and fake. BOOM found that the original photo is from a stock photo website iStock and shows an unidentified man kneeling in front of an unmarked grave.
Argentine football legend Maradona died on November 25 due to a heart attack aged 60. Pele expressed his sadness on Maradona's death on Twitter.
Footballing social media accounts have shared the photoshopped image with the caption: Pele bids farewell to Maradona. That's painful.
The archive of the post can be accessed here.
The archive of the post can be accessed here.
The archive of the tweet can be accessed here.
The archive of the tweet can be accessed here.
Also Read: Fake Tweet Alert: Donald Trump Did Not Mistake Maradona For Madonna
Fact check
BOOM reverse searched for the photoshopped image on Yandex and found the original image on a website for a Cluve Pugh funeral home in United Kingdom. The image is one of the stock images used for an article titled "Funerals: A Part of Life".
We then ran a reverse search on the above photo from the funeral home site and found the same image on iStock, a stock photo website.
The photo description reads "Shot of a young man visiting a gravesite with a bunch of flowers".
Below is a screenshot comparison of the photoshopped image (L) and the original image (R).
Diego Maradona's name as well as his birth and death year have been added to the tombstone in the photoshopped image. Pele's face has been photoshopped onto the unidentified man and his skin tone has been darkened in the photoshopped image to match Pele's skin tone.
Maradona was laid to rest in a cemetery outside Buenos Aires next to the graves of his parents Dalma and Diego Sr in a private ceremony attended by close family and friends.
BOOM found no articles or records of Pele attending the funeral or paying his respects at Maradona's grave.