This photo showing Pelé at Maradona’s grave has been photoshopped
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A photo of Brazilian football legend Pelé leaning on the gravestone of fellow legend, the Argentinian player Diego Maradona, who died November 25 of a heart attack, has been circulating online. Fans from across the world have left emotional comments on the image, which was posted on Facebook and Twitter on November 27. Turns out, however, the image was photoshopped.
The photo was shared in posts in several languages, including in French, in Arabic and in English. The post below was shared on Twitter more than 700 times.
Ultimate Farewell...Pele’s bow to Maradona...Peaking Silently..!! pic.twitter.com/dggki8zvY1
— Bishan Bedi (@BishanBedi) November 28, 2020
When we carried out a reverse image search on Google, we pulled up a photo showing a man crouched in front of a tomb. It turns out the image is a stock photo of someone grieving in a cemetery from gettyimages.
If you put this photo next to the photo that has been circulating online, you’ll see that they are identical, except that the name “Diego Maradona” has been added to the tombstone and Pelé’s face has been photoshopped onto the man’s body along with darker-toned hands.
The fold in the man’s pant leg are identical. So are the folds around the collar of his jacket. The bouquet is also in the same position in the two images. Finally, there is the same reflection in the tombstone in both images.
On November 25, Pelé paid tribute to Maradona on his Twitter account.
“One day, I hope we can play football together in the sky,” he wrote. But there aren’t any photos of Pelé at Maradona’s grave.
Maradona was buried on November 26 in a cemetery on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, where his parents are also buried. There were no media reports that Pelé attended the ceremony.