ISLAMABAD: A video that went viral on social media showing the stage designed to resemble the Kaaba, a holy site for Muslims, during Riyadh Season 2024, held in Saudi Arabia is false.
The video shows a cube-shaped structure displaying bright lights and visuals behind the stage, with dancers performing in front. The clip caused a stir among internet users who allegedly called it a mockery of Islam’s holiest site.
Netizens claimed that the Saudi authorities placed a Kaaba structure on the stage during the Riyadh Season fashion show 2024, which is held annually hosting athletes and performers from around the world.
“Saudi Disgraced Islam. This is the opening of Riyadh’s entertainment season in Saudi Arabia this year. They had a model of the Holy Kaaba where they displayed images of singers and dancers,” a user, named Ryan Rozbiani, wrote on X, which gathered 5.5 million views.
Another user in a post on X, which earned 198K views, wrote, “Saudi Arabia has desecrated the image of the Kebbah. What happened to all the Muslim zeolites around the world? Or can they only be weaponised against Israel’s enemies and NATO’s enemies?”
In a statement, the Anti-Rumor Authority of the Kingdom confirmed that the video being shared online is from last year’s Riyadh Season boxing event, where four screens connected to the ceiling for audiences, sitting around the boxing ring.
“There are no models or replicas of the Kaaba in the kingdom, and the cube-like structure was in fact four mirrors attached to the ceiling, with images digitally processed to appear on them,” the authority wrote on X.
Daily Ausaf fact-checked the video, finding that the performance in the viral video is from the opening ceremony of a boxing event during the Riyadh Season 2023, a series of entertainment, cultural, and sporting events held in the Kingdom’s capital city annually.
The video, uploaded on YouTube in 2023, showed screens connected in a cube shape over the boxing ring, which was lowered during the opening ceremony of the event, playing different visuals in the backdrop of performers.
An emoji of the boxing glove can also be seen in the viral picture. The video was stopped in such a way that resembled the Kaaba covering. However, Saudi authorities denied the claim about the model of the Kaaba structure.
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