Italy recently won the Euro Cup against England. A video has been shared on social media that shows a huge strip of firecrackers lighted on the streets. It has been claimed that people in Italy organised such a spectacle to celebrate the win. “No pollution for them, only India’s Diwali crackers pollute the world,” the claim further reads.

Italy’s celebration on euro cup winning. No pollution for them ,only India’s Dipawali crackers pollute the world! 👆

Posted by Hemant Sahasrabuddhe on Monday, 12 July 2021

Several Twitter users have shared the clip.

It is quite widespread on Facebook. Alt News has also received verification requests on its official mobile application.

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Fact-check

We found that a few people had commented that the video is from Taiwan. Some men in the video can also be seen sporting t-shirts with Chinese text.

A reverse image search of the video’s keyframes did not yield relevant results. But we did find similar clips of celebration in Taiwan thus, suggesting that the video could indeed be from the country. A keyword search on Facebook using Chinese keywords ‘台湾 鞭炮’ (Taiwan firecrackers) led us to a Facebook post where the same video was shared. The post included a YouTube link to the video uploaded on April 16 by Taiwanese media outlet Sanli News Network (SETN). “Firecrackers stretch for 500 meters, warmly welcoming Baishatun Mazu,” reads the caption.

The video by STEN is enlarged but a visual comparison of both clips shows that they are the same. The similarities have been marked below:

1. Red arrow – a pole between two trees

2. Blue arrow – man with orange cap

3. Green arrow – mobile phone

According to China Post, Mazu Pilgrimage in Taiwan is an annual religious festival celebrating the birthday of the Chinese deity Mazu. It is held between January and April.

There are several other pictures of firecrackers burst during the festival.

A video of firecrackers lighted during the Mazu pilgrimage in Taiwan was falsely shared as a celebration in Italy after the country won the Euro Cup.

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About the Author

Pooja Chaudhuri is a senior editor at Alt News.