Claim that football star Cristiano Ronaldo has converted his hotel chain into coronavirus hospitals.
Discover Australian Associated Press: its products and services, Australia’s national news agency, delivering a continuous stream of breaking news, information and images direct to clients. Ready-to-use on all platforms and channels, our news service sets the standard for accuracy, reliability and impartiality., Pagemasters is a global provider of sub-editing, listings and imaging services. Our highly-skilled editors provide complete media production services to metropolitan and regional newspapers, websites, magazines, sporting bodies and education sectors., "The leading provider of media intelligence and communication solutions, AAP Medianets Distribution and Database services connect organisations with Australian media professionals to achieve their PR and communication goals.", Megaform supplies racing data and content for gallops, greyhounds and harness to hundreds of form guides and websites around Australia. Fields, form, comment, results and much more. Our racing data is trusted, accurate and reliable., Breaking news, feature and stock photography, delivered at speed and on-demand. Quality-controlled and curated by our network of professional photographers and editors, coverage focuses on national and world events, sport, entertainment and lifestyle., Australia’s leading media analysis agency providing bespoke media intelligence and reputation tracking for Australia’s largest organisations. Our team of media experts deliver data-driven insights to help clients make strategic decisions, manage reputation and leverage trends., "Australias leading publisher of biographical data, records and media guides. Research, target and connect with key Australian contacts and companies in media, government institutions, organisations and associations.", "AAP Studio is a team of big thinkers, strategists, designers and problem solvers. Drawing on AAPs broad range of editorial and creative resources, Studio delivers engaging content and thoughtful design solutions for brands and publishers.", FactCheck Social Media, By AAP FactCheck, March 18, 2020, As European football’s governing body UEFA acted to limit the spread of COVID-19 by postponing all UEFA club competitions for at least a week, fans of Portugal and Juventus superstar Cristiano Ronaldo appeared to have some positive news to share in the absence of Champions League or Europa League matches., A Facebook post on March 15 by the page Football Team Offer claimed Ronaldo responded to COVID-19 by turning his chain of hotels in Portugal into hospitals. The post reads: “Cristiano Ronaldo is turning his chain of hotels in Portugal into hospitals to treat those with underlying health conditions who have Coronavirus. Their treatment will be FREE as @Cristiano will be paying for everything, including salaries of doctors & nurses.”, The post has attracted more than 15,000 shares and received more than 2500 comments and 14,000 reactions., As COVID-19 disrupts the sporting world it was announced by Italian club Juventus on March 12 that Cristiano Ronaldo would remain in quarantine in his native island of Madeira after Juventus teammate Daniele Rugani tested positive for COVID-19., On March 14, Ronaldo made a statement on his Instagram account to appeal to fans to follow the advice of the World Health Organization and public health bodies for advice on the pandemic. “Protecting human life must come above any other interests. I would like to send my thoughts to everyone who has lost someone close to them, my solidarity to those who are fighting the virus, like my teammate Daniele Rugani, and my continued support to the amazing health professionals putting their own lives at risk to save others,” reads the message., The following day, rumours appeared on social media suggesting Ronaldo was doing more than self-quarantining against COVID-19. The rumours were sourced to a story published by the Spanish national daily sport newspaper Marca and picked up on by the likes of Juventus News and a prominent sports journalist., On March 14, Juventus News, sourcing Marca, with a link to the newspaper’s since-deleted tweet, said: “Cristiano Ronaldo will transform his hotels in Portugal into hospitals to help in the fight against the pandemic. The CR7 hotels will become hospitals that can be used free of charge. The Juventus footballer will be the one who pays the doctors and workers.”, SuperSportTV and FoxSportsAsia presenter Adriano Del Monte tweeted on March 14: “Cristiano Ronaldo’s @PestanaCR7 hotels will become hospitals next week, where patients in Portugal will be treated free of charge. He will pay all medical staff. #COVID19 What a man.”, However, in the days following Marca’s report and its widespread sharing on social media, the story was debunked by Ronaldo’s hotel chain, Pestana CR7. The Sun newspaper in the UK reported that a hotel spokesperson told Dutch outlet RTL Nieuws: “We are a hotel. We are not going to be a hospital. It is a day like everyone else, we are and will remain a hotel. We are being phoned by the press. I wish you a nice day.”, Global news and lifestyle publication Insider also reported the story had been denied by a hotel spokesperson and that since the original report had been deleted by Marca, they had been unable to find any reference to the story on the Marca site., A search by AAP FactCheck of the Marca website also failed to find any links to the original report., Cristiano Ronaldo has not publicly commented on the reports. Meanwhile, according to WHO, Portugal had 448 confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of March 17., Based on the evidence, AAP FactCheck found the post to be false. A spokesman for Cristiano Ronaldo’s hotel chain, the Pestana CR7, denied the report by sports newspaper Marca. Marca deleted the original report and social media posts. Ronaldo has not publicly commented on the report., False\xa0– The primary claims of the content are factually inaccurate., * AAP FactCheck is accredited by the Poynter Institute’s International Fact-Checking Network, which promotes best practice through a stringent and transparent Code of Principles. https://factcheck.aap.com.au/, AAP is accredited by the Poynter Institute’s International Fact Checking Network and adheres to its rigorous protocols., FactCheck Social Media, A Facebook post claims that a grocery store worker who wore a mask for hours at a time got a lung infection from "breathing in her own bacteria"., FactCheck Social Media, "Theres a famous US tennis player called Serena Williams. Theres also a social media post by someone called Serena Williams getting a lot of attention in the US and elsewhere in the world.", FactCheck Social Media, A widely circulated Facebook post claims that there is no COVID-19 pandemic., FactCheck Social Media, As researchers worldwide work to develop a vaccine for COVID-19, a social media post is claiming a vaccine has already been developed and will cause widespread infertility., FactCheck Social Media, A social media post claims Bill Gates, the US billionaire who is supporting research into a COVID-19 vaccine, was in New Zealand at the end of May., FactCheck News Media, Did deputy Nationals leader Bridget McKenzie fund programs that were recommended for funding?, FactCheck News Media, "The 2019/20 budget cut of $12.9 million to recurrent expenditure on top of $21 million of savings to be found for the government\s Labour Expense Cap is crippling FRNSW.", FactCheck News Media, “The claim that the workforce is now excessively casualised is simply not true. The level of casualisation hasn’t changed for about 20 years.”, FactCheck News Media, “Coles and Woolies, they said look we’ll put 10 cents a litre on for the milk and we’ll give it to the dairy farmers. Well I’ve just found out that the dairy farmers get 1.4 cents of that." One Nation leader Pauline Hanson. October 10, 2019., FactCheck News Media, “Australians spend twice as much on superannuation fees as we do on electricity - some $30 billion a year.” Labor Assistant Minister for Treasury spokesman Andrew Leigh. September 30, 2019., politics, Senior Morrison government minister Matthias Cormann will retire from politics at the end of the year, but will remain as finance minister until then., Australian rules football, Melbourne have slipped to 17th on the ladder after Richmond overcame a long casualty list to score a 27-point win at the MCG., politics, "Kanye West has tweeted that he is running for US president in four months with some responding to the rappers announcement with scepticism", Forgotten your login details? Call + 61 2 9322 8727., © Australian Associated Press 2020
Cristiano Ronaldo is not converting his hotels into hospitals to treat COVID-19 patients – Australian Associated Press