A video of a basketball match is going viral on the internet with users claiming that it shows a match between France and Russia.
What about the video?: The two-minute and six seconds long clip shows a Russian player lifting and throwing the referee into the hoop in anger. This receives a thunderous response from the crowd.
An archive of the post can be found here.
(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)
Several social media users have shared the clip.
(Source: Facebook/Twitter/Screenshot)
What is the truth?: The video is actually from a Soviet film called 'Восьмое чудо света' (Translation: Eighth Wonder of the World), which was released in 1981.
What led us to the truth?: We divided the video into several keyframes using a Google Chrome extension, InVID, and performed a reverse image search on them.
A search on Yandex led us to the name of the film, "Восьмое чудо света 1981."
Taking this as a hint, we performed a keyword search on YouTube and found the full length of the film uploaded on a channel called 'Alice May' on 3 June 2017.
At around the 33:36 mark of the film, one can see the viral clip playing.
The player can be seen throwing the referee into the hoop in frustration, which receives a massive applause from the audience.
What about the film?: It was a comedy film that was released in 1981. The film's plot revolved around Soviet basketball players who participated in international competitions for the Hera Cup.
The film was directed by Samson Samsonov and was written by Vladimir Kapitanovsky.
It featured several famous actors, such as Liya Akhedzhakova and Tatyana Kravchenko.
Conclusion: It is clear that the viral clip is from a film released in 1981and not from a real incident.
(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on WhatsApp at 9643651818, or e-mail it to us at webqoof@thequint.com and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)