True or fake? Portugal's mint weighs in on Ronaldo coin
Portugal's national mint has denied issuing a commemorative coin to honor Cristiano Ronaldo, refuting claims that went viral on social media.
A spokesperson told AFP that no such coin had been produced, and a review of the mint's catalogue as of Dec. 4, 2024, confirmed the absence of any coin featuring the 39-year-old Portuguese football star.
Social media posts, including one in Indonesian on Nov. 17, 2024, falsely claimed, "The country of Portugal gave an award by issuing a 7 EURO coin with Ronaldo's image on it." The post included an image of Ronaldo holding a trophy alongside two coins that appeared to bear his likeness.
Text overlaid on the image reiterated the false claim, calling Ronaldo Portugal's "best athlete in history." However, closer inspection suggests the image of the coins is AI-generated, as the design lacks the fine details typical of official mint products.
This is not the first time such claims have gone viral. AFP had previously debunked similar rumors that emerged in Arabic after Ronaldo scored his 900th career goal during a 2-1 win over Croatia in Lisbon on September 5, 2024, in the UEFA Nations League. Despite Ronaldo celebrating his milestone with a video posted to his Instagram account on September 6, there was no mention of a commemorative coin.
A spokesperson for INCM, Portugal's state-owned mint, stated on September 18 that it was "not currently in the process of issuing any new currency bearing the drawing of Cristiano Ronaldo." The spokesperson added that any news about currency issuances would be "published on [their] official channels."
A review of commemorative coins listed on INCM's website as of Dec. 4 also confirmed that the coin shown in viral posts does not exist.
Despite the widespread appeal of such claims, this incident highlights the ease with which AI-generated images can be used to spread misinformation online.
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