Is it true that 108 professional football players died due to side effects from vaccinations in 2021?

Publications are spreading on social networks about an unprecedented increase in mortality among athletes, which coincided with mass vaccination against coronavirus. We have verified the accuracy of such messages.

IN Facebook, Twitter and other social networks in November and December, posts appeared that the mortality rate of football players had increased significantly in 2021. Some Internet users claim: "108 FIFA registered players/coaches have died in the last six months..." Others lead slightly different data: “Since December (2020. - Ed.) 183 professional athletes and coaches suddenly lost consciousness. 108 of them died." The authors of such publications and comments on them are confident that such sad statistics are associated with vaccination against the COVID-19 coronavirus taking place around the world.

For the first time, the statement about the unprecedented increase in mortality among football players became popular abroad. Then fact checkers from Reuters And Lead Stories. In recent months, our colleagues from Associated Press, FactCheck.org, PolitiFact and other projects, several similar stories were analyzed at once.

The original source of publications mentioning the number 108 is written in Hebrew note, published November 13 on the Real Time News website. It claims that "108 professional and college athletes and coaches" have died since December 2020. This is a statement accompanied name list.

The list was studied by our colleagues from Reuters. It turned out that it was compiled based on media reports and included the names of people aged 12 to 64 years from different countries. They were involved in various sports: American football, athletics, badminton, baseball, basketball, boxing, rowing, cricket, handball, hockey, football, table tennis, tennis, volleyball, archery and others. The list included both professional and amateur athletes, veterans and young athletes. The compilers also mention, among others, one caddy (golfer's assistant) and a doctor who died while jogging.

Real Time News said most of the 108 deaths were "cardiovascular-related" and emphasized that they occurred after mass vaccinations against COVID-19 began.

Our colleagues at Reuters examined the media reports on which the Israeli authors based their publication. Of the 108 cases, the cause of death was documented in 53. The list does include heart problems, as well as cerebral aneurysm, brain injuries, congenital coronary artery problems, a motorcycle accident, heat stroke, suicide, etc. One of the athletes mentioned actually died in August 2019, before the pandemic began. Some people died before their countries began vaccinating people of the appropriate age.

Reuters contacted international federations for football, handball, basketball, cricket, weightlifting and other sports, as well as college sports associations in the United States. In their responses, these organizations said that, according to their data, there is no sharp increase in deaths among athletes in 2021. They were also unaware of cases of death after vaccination against COVID-19. Representatives of the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young emphasized that the sudden deaths of boys and girls mentioned in the list due to heart problems are, unfortunately, not uncommon not only among athletes.

Thus, the verifiable statement about the connection between the deaths of people from the world of sports and vaccination is based solely on the assumption of the authors of the list from the Israeli publication and is not supported by documents. The list itself presents a distorted picture: it includes people who died and died from various causes. Real Time News' statements are not confirmed by representatives of many sports associations.

Fake

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. Reuters. Fact Check-List of ‘108 FIFA soccer players’ is not proof of a common link between COVID-19 vaccines and athlete deaths
2. Lead Stories. Fact Check: List Is NOT A Verified Accurate Account Of 108 Deaths Of FIFA Players And Coaches In Six Months Of 2021
3. Is it true that the death rate among pilots in the United States has increased by 1,700% in 2021?