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Tuesday, July 14, 2026
Lionel Messi latest subject of antisemitic theories, says monitoring group
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleZev Stub is the Times of Israel's Diaspora Affairs correspondent.
Soccer icon Lionel Messi has become the latest target of online antisemitic conspiracy theories linked to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, according to CyberWell, a nonprofit that monitors and reports antisemitism on social media.
The organization says it identified dozens of World Cup-related posts across Meta platforms and X in English, Arabic and French during the final week of June, with users falsely claiming the football star is Jewish, controlled by Jews or benefiting from alleged Jewish influence over FIFA and the tournament. His career has intersected with Jewish and Israeli culture several times over the years.
The posts form part of a broader wave of antisemitic content exploiting the World Cup’s global audience, alongside longstanding conspiracy theories alleging that Jews secretly control FIFA, governments, the media and world events, CyberWell says.
Many of the posts about Messi invoke the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, the notorious antisemitic forgery that falsely claims Jews manipulate world affairs.
CyberWell said numerous Arabic-language posts cite the text to argue that sports and entertainment are used to distract the public while concealing alleged Jewish control over global events.
“The World Cup commands a global stage of billions, and that visibility is exploited by those seeking to spread antisemitic conspiracy theories,” says CyberWell founder and CEO Tal-Or Cohen Montemayor.
The nonprofit says it has contacted Meta, TikTok, YouTube and other platforms, and urged them to improve measures to identify coded antisemitic narratives in content.
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