Fact Check: Did FIFA Reference Babar Azam in Latest Bukayo Saka Post?

Social media users in the country have recently developed this obnoxious sense of national pride that suggests that FIFA curates captions on social media to cater to the Pakistani audience.

This sense of pride has been fueled since Otis Khan’s picture was featured on FIFA’s page on Eid, however, many fans in Pakistan do not know that it was a customized post for Pakistan only and was not streamlined across the globe.

Recent claims have surfaced suggesting that FIFA’s Instagram page customizes its content based on the geographical location of its users. Specifically, it was alleged that Otis Khan‘s Eid picture on FIFA’s Eid post, Lionel Messi‘s compilation with Arif Lohar’s music, and Bukayo Saka’s recent post with an Urdu caption were tailored for audiences in Pakistan and were not shown globally.

Otis Khan, a footballer of Pakistani descent, was featured in a FIFA Instagram post celebrating Eid. The claim posits that this post was shown primarily to users in Pakistan due to geo-customization.

Bukayo Saka’s post, which included an Urdu caption, is targeted solely at the Pakistani audience and is not visible to the global user base. If one tries a VPN, one will surely know that it is a customized post targeted at the specific audience of Pakistan.

The fact that FIFA celebrated Saka’s goal with a Hassan Ali-inspired Instagram post is not the truth it was only customized for Pakistani viewers.

Major social media platforms, including Instagram, utilize sophisticated algorithms to display content relevant to users’ interests and locations. However, direct geo-targeting where a post is entirely restricted to a specific location is less common.

FIFA, being a global organization, aims to engage a diverse audience. While it does create culturally relevant content, there is no substantial evidence suggesting that posts like Otis Khan’s Eid picture or Bukayo Saka’s Urdu-captioned message are ‘not’ exclusively geo-targeted to Pakistan. Users from various regions, not limited to Pakistan, have reported seeing the aforementioned posts.

This implies a broader visibility rather than a restricted, location-specific approach.