“Pride flags permanently prohibited at FIFA Club World Cup 2025.”
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Presenter Samantha Johnson speaks on stage during the draw for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup soccer tournament, Dec. 5, 2024, in Miami. (AP)
No, pride flags aren’t banned from the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup
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The news originated as satire.
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A Google search for reports about FIFA banning pride flags found no credible news reports and only resulted in fact-checks.
The United States will host the expanded men's 2025 FIFA Club World Cup next summer, with the final match scheduled to take place in New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium. Ahead of the tournament, in which 32 of the world’s best soccer clubs will compete, some social media posts have claimed that pride flags have been banned.
"Breaking: Pride flags permanently prohibited at FIFA Club World Cup 2025 – ‘No more woke pride,’" multiple Dec. 10 Threads posts said. The posts link to an unrelated blog post about TV host Jimmy Kimmel and actor Robert Downey Jr.
These posts were flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads.)
The claim about FIFA, international soccer’s governing body, banning pride flags from the 2025 Club World Cup originated Nov. 15 with a satire label on SpaceXMania, a parody news website whose "About Us" page says, "Every single article on our site is about as real as a unicorn sipping on a rainbow smoothie. They’re pure fantasy."
The FIFA World Cup, which happens every four years, features teams of players representing their countries. The next men’s version is in 2026 and will be hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
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The FIFA Club World Cup features club teams from around the world and has different qualifying criteria. The club tournament will run June 15 to July 13 in 11 U.S. cities; although the tournament had been played each December with seven teams, it will now involve 32 teams and run every four years.
A Google search for reports about FIFA banning pride flags found no credible news reports and only resulted in fact-checks.
Featured Fact-check
A FIFA spokesperson told Reuters that a similar headline saying that Major League Soccer banned pride flags from the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup was false. We contacted FIFA, but received no immediate response.
Information on FIFA’s official website for the 2025 Club World Cup mentions nothing about pride flags.
We rate the claim that pride flags were "permanently prohibited" at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup False.
Our Sources
Threads post (archived), Dec. 10, 2024
Threads post, Dec. 10, 2024
SpacexMania, MLS Stadium Issues Permanent Ban on Pride Flags for FIFA Club World Cup 2025 (archived), Nov. 15, 2024
Google search results, "fifa bans pride flags," Dec. 16, 2024
Reuters, MLS has not banned Pride flags at 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, Nov. 26, 2024
FIFA, FIFA World Cup 2025: Everything you need to know, Dec. 2, 2024
Africa News, FIFA's revamped club World Cup Draw: What you need to know, May 12, 2024
The Associated Press, The draw for FIFA’s revamped Club World Cup is coming up. Here’s what to know, Dec. 5, 2024
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No, pride flags aren’t banned from the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup
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