FACT-CHECK: Viral Video of Super Falcons Harassment Shared With Misleading Narrative

By Abdulraheem Muhammed 

Claim:

A video showing Nigerian female footballers being verbally attacked on public transport went viral online, with claims suggesting the incident occurred recently in Switzerland following Nigeria’s loss to DR Congo.

Verdict:

Misleading! The video is four years old, recorded in 2021, and the incident happened in Vienna, Austria, not Switzerland.

Full Text:

On 16 November, a disturbing video resurfaced across social media showing a man berating members of Nigeria’s Super Falcons inside a public transport vehicle. The narrator insulted the team, calling Nigeria a “terrorist nation,” and accused the players of representing a government that “kills its own youth.”

Several influential users on X (formerly Twitter) circulated the clip as a newly recorded incident.

One user, @Gozie007, posted the video with the caption:

“Wow 😳 explosive confrontation… A man confronted Nigerian players in Vienna… Nigeria is a crime itself.”
This post amassed 253,000 views, 2,385 reposts, and 4,732 likes.

Another verified account, @SomtoOkonkwo, shared it on 17 November with the caption:

“You People Are Representing A Terrorist Country Who Are Letting Thousands Of Nigerians Die.” This post gained 607,000 views and over 5,000 reposts.

Similar narratives spread across Facebook, including a post by Adamawa State Politics, which misleadingly claimed the confrontation took place inside a train in Switzerland.

The posts not only suggested a recent incident but also linked it to Nigeria’s 2025 World Cup playoff loss to DR Congo in Rabat, Morocco.

In the video, the man repeatedly told the players they should be “ashamed” of representing Nigeria, mentioning alleged killings, including claims about “over 200 youths killed in Lekki peninsula” a reference to the 2020 Lekki Toll Gate shooting.

He also confronted a player he said “lives in Switzerland,” claiming she had recently gained citizenship, which further fuelled false assumptions about the location of the video.

Verification:

FactCheckAfrica conducted a verification process using reverse-image searches, media archives, and analysis of public transport systems.

1. Reverse Image Search Shows Video Is From 2021

Using Google Lens on multiple frames of the video, we traced the footage to several Nigerian news reports published in July 2021:

Punch ball Nigeria, 21 July 2021: “Falcons clash with commuters in Austria over anti-Buhari comments.”

TheCable, 20 July 2021: “‘You represent a terrorist government’ — Nigerian man harasses Super Falcons on public bus in Austria.”

The Nation, July 2021: “VIDEO: Angry man confronts Super Falcons in Austria.”

These publications confirm that the video is not new.

2. Location Confirmed: Vienna, Austria — Not Switzerland

All referenced reports place the incident in Vienna, where the Super Falcons were attending an eight-day training camp.

Additional details from TheCable and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) show:

• The team had boarded public transport to tour the Vienna city centre.
  
• The incident was reported to the Austrian Police and the Nigerian Embassy by the team’s FIFA match agent.
  

3. Transport Type: Not a Bus or Train — Likely a Tram

Some reports referred to a bus, while Punch mentioned a train, creating confusion.

However, visual analysis of the viral footage shows:

• The seating arrangement does not match a typical bus layout.
  
• Visible cars and buildings outside the windows indicate it is not a train, which in Vienna rarely runs through central street-level areas.
  
• Vienna’s tram system matches both the interior and the route pattern visible in the video.

This aligns with the team’s stated intention to tour the city, as trams are commonly used for sightseeing in Vienna.

4. Context of the Verbal Attack

The attacker referenced the 2020 Lekki Toll Gate shooting, claiming the Nigerian government killed “over 200 youths.”Amnesty International, however, reports at least 12 deaths. This historical reference proves the incident is not linked to any event in 2025, including the Super Eagles’ loss to DR Congo.

Conclusion:

The claim circulating on social media that Super Falcons players were recently confronted on a train in Switzerland is false. The video is from July 2021, recorded in Vienna, Austria, during a training camp. The narrative linking the footage to recent events is misleading and has no connection to current football-related incidents.