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Debunking Rumors that Algerian Fans Burned Down a Church in Lyon, France after World Cup Win

Categories: East Asia, Middle East & North Africa, Western Europe, Algeria, France, South Korea, Breaking News, Citizen Media, Digital Activism, Ethnicity & Race, International Relations, Religion, Sport

On June 22 at the World Cup 2014 in Brazil, Algeria defeated South Korea 4-2 [1]to keep its chance of qualifying to the knock-out round alive. Scenes of joy were numerous in Algeria [2] [fr] but also in France where a dynamic Algerian community resides.

The joy was tempered by rumors that a church in Lyon, France was burned down during the celebration. The rumors turned out to be a complete lie spread by extreme right groups based on erroneous photos. Adrien Sénécat explains the details of his fact-checking on the story [3][fr] :    

Peu après le coup de sifflet final dimanche, des tweets ont indiqué qu'une église aurait brûlé dans le quartier de la Duchère, à Lyon. Message notamment relayé par le Bloc Identitaire et des sites proches de l'extrême-droite. Sauf que l'église en question n'a pas brûlé, comme l'ont signalé plusieurs internautes sur les réseaux sociaux [4]. Une église a en revanche bien été incendiée à la Duchère… mais en 2006 [5] (et sans aucun rapport avec un match de l'Algérie).  

Shortly after the final whistle on Sunday, some tweets suggested that a church had burned down in the area of ​​Duchère in Lyon, France. These tweets were relayed by Bloc Identitaire and other similar extreme-right group websites. The thing is, the church was still intact, as reported by several twitter users [4].A Church in Duchère was lit on fire … but in 2006 (and it had no relation whatsoever with an Algerian football).