No, UEFA did not cancel Christianity

A few years ago, a taxi driver in Athens asked me to scroll his Facebook feed to find a post he wanted to show me. At the time, our feeds were largely limited to the sources we had chosen, leaving us rather oblivious to what people of other persuasions were exposed to. Even though I knew, in theory, that there was another bubble out there full of conspiracy theories, some of it still managed to shock me.

The firewall between my screen and that world has now gone. Elon Musk’s transformation of Twitter into X guarantees at least several posts from far-right accounts at the top of my feed, with Musk’s own chatbot called upon to provide the fact-checking. Other social media have, to varying degrees, also started serving me content from that world. Including, last week, Facebook.

The post came from Dieci, a Greek football page that seems to be unaffiliated with a specific team or ideology. Some posts here and there promote the philanthropy of Ivan Savvidi, owner of PAOK Thessaloniki and a once-governor on behalf of Vladimir Putin’s party, or the national importance of (Russian-owned) Paphos FC’s logo. The post that drew my attention though was about the kind of thing I talk about at parties: UEFA disciplinary actions against football clubs from the Balkans.

According to Dieci, UEFA fined Crvena Zvezda 40,000 euros specifically because of a massive picture of Saint Simon on the stands, with banners underneath telling players “may your faith lead you to victory.” Dieci claimed UEFA fined the club over ‘displaying an unsuitable message which undermines the reputation and integrity of football’, asking their followers to draw their own conclusions.

And draw their own conclusions they did. Some of the comments attracting hundreds of likes include someone decrying how the Olympics ridiculed Christianity, how UEFA promoted LGBT causes or ignored the flag of Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus, how there wouldn’t be any reaction against Islamic or Jewish symbols. Some even took issue with Muslim players being allowed to break their fast during recent matches. As far as most of these people were concerned, once again, the woke conspiracy is assaulting their identity.

I was, understandably, surprised to read this. I was even more surprised when Perplexity told me that this was, indeed, a true story. I decided to check the facts for myself, heading to UEFA’s website to find the actual decision.

Indeed, UEFA had fined Crvena Zvezda over an offensive display during their match against Lille OSC, as Dieci had claimed. However, the display wasn’t Saint Simon or otherwise faith-related. Instead, UEFA had taken issue with a banner celebrating Pavle Đurišić, a WWII-era Chetnik leader. Đurišić once boasted that, on his orders, the “complete annihilation of the Muslim population was undertaken, regardless of sex and age” in a part of Hercegovina. Thousands of women and children were butchered by his forces, who often operated in concert with the Balkans’ Nazi and fascist occupiers. As the Montenegrin government once banned his commemoration, Zvezda’s fans proclaiming him ‘Commander of Montenegro’ made the banner even more controversial.

I don’t know if Dieci‘s admins bothered to check before they made their post. Then again, they are not pretending to be journalists, like — say — Greek City Times, who called the scene “stunning” and “pure spectacle” in an article repeating the lie. A Greek right-wing MEP complained to the European Commissioner for Sport about the fine, suggesting Crvena Zvezda was punished over an “orthodox icon.” A Visegrad 24 tweet making the same claim was close to 950,000 views, the top comment asking Grok if this was true. Yes, said the chatbot, confirming all the details while suggesting the full PDF proving that a religious display got punished is on UEFA.com. I suspect very few people went looking for the actual PDF, like I did.

So no — UEFA did not fine Crvena Zvezda because their fans displayed a religious symbol. They fined them because some fans celebrated a nationalist leader with language that implies an irredentist claim against a neighbouring country. But hundreds of thousands of people have been lied to by platforms that either pursue a political agenda or, at least, do not mind the extra clicks if they enrage their audience.

To claim Christianity is banned in football is ridiculous — from Gakpo’s celebration this season dedicating himself to Jesus, to every other player making the sign of the cross when they are subbed on, to one of the sport’s most famous left-wing clubs being named after Saint Paul. But most of this propaganda is not meant as a statement of fact, but a statement of intent against other faiths and ideologies. Just like the actual banner that UEFA fined Crvena Zvezda over.