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New Delhi, Dec 4: Former champions Chennai City FC were on Saturday barred from participating in the upcoming I-League after failing to comply with AIFF's club licensing regulations.

The decision to bar them was taken by the All India Football Federation's Club Licensing Committee.

"The AIFF Club Licensing Committee has taken strong exception to Chennai City FC (the "Club") for failing to comply with most of the mandatory AIFF Club Licensing Regulations for the forthcoming Hero I-League 2021-22 despite giving additional opportunity after assurances from the Club including a detailed conference call," the federation said in a statement.

Kenkre FC, who finished second in the I-League qualifiers, will replace the former champion. The I-League will kick off in Kolkata from December 26, but the fixtures are yet to be announced.

Besides being banned from participating in the I-League, the AIFF also imposed a FIFA transfer ban on the club, which does not allow them to sign players.

"With the Hero I-League scheduled to kick-off later this month, the committee wasn't in any position to give any more opportunities to the club, and henceforth, has unanimously decided to not grant the exemption sought by the club, after having failed to receive the ICLS Premier 2 Licence of 2021-22 season.

"As a result of not receiving the Licence or the Exemption, the club is thus barred from participating in the Hero I-League 2021-22. The club is also serving a FIFA transfer ban which doesn't allow them to sign players."

In March 2019, Chennai City FC beat Minerva Punjab FC 3 1 to be crowned the 2018 19 I-League champions.

The statement further said, "In accordance with the powers vested, the AIFF League Committee proposed the name of Kenkre FC as a replacement for Chennai City FC in the Hero I-League 2021-22. This decision has been ratified by the AIFF Emergency Committee."

"Kenkre FC, who had finished second in the Hero I-League Qualifiers (in October 2021 in Bengaluru), will be playing in the Hero I-League 2021-22."

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Claim: Viral video shows celebrities from all around the world taking a dip in the holy water at Mahakumbh Mela.

Fact: The viral video is AI generated, these celebrities have not visited Mahakumbh Mela.

The Maha Kumbh Mela is a major Hindu festival held every 12 years at Prayagraj, India. It began on January 13, 2025, and will continue till February 26, 2025. This event is expected to attract around 40 crore visitors, making it the world's largest religious gathering. The festival's origins are rooted in Hindu mythology, symbolising the victory of gods over demons. Devotees believe that bathing at the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna, and mythical Saraswati rivers cleanses sins and leads to salvation.

To accommodate the massive inflow of pilgrims, the authorities have established a temporary city spanning 4,000 hectares. This includes 150,000 tents, enhanced sanitation facilities, and improved transportation services. Security measures involve deploying 40,000 police officers and surveillance systems to ensure safety. Many foreign enthusiasts from countries like Brazil, Germany, South Africa are visiting the Mahakumbh Mela. Philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs, the billionaire widow of Steve Jobs, co-founder and former CEO of Apple also visited the Kumbh Mela and received spiritual initiation from her guru and head seer of Panchayati Akhada Shri Niranjani Swami Kailasanand Giri.

Meanwhile, a video showing many celebrities like Elon Musk, Putin, USA President Donald Trump, football players Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, actors Will Smith, John Cena, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and others and taking a dip in the holy water at the Maha Kumbh Mela. We can see the celebrities taking the holy dip with other devotees in the background. The video is in circulation with the captions like ‘Is elon musk in Kumbh mela 2025?’

Others shared it with caption ‘Haters will say its edited’

Here is the archived link of the claim.

Fact Check:

The claim is False. The video is an AI generated.

When we extracted the keyframes from the viral video, and searched using Google reverse image search, we found that the video was shared by several social media users with the captions like “Elon Musk, Putin, Donald Trump and Other Celebs at Maha Kumbh Mela 2025 - AI Version *Wait For End* #MahaKumbh2025 #MahaKumbhMela2025”

Some users shared the video with captions “और बनाओ AI…. भारत वाले हैं, तुम्हारा ही कबाड़ कर देंगे”. When translated it states “Make more AI…. They are Indians, they will destroy you”

 

When we used Deepfake detector by Invid tool to check whether the video is an AI generated one, it detected the video to be having moderate evidence of being AI generated. Most of the faces in the video were found to be AI-generated. When checked the faces in the video, we found that the faces of Indian PM Modi, US president Trump and Russian President Putin to be more than 90% deepfake.

 
 

According to an article publsihed in Hindustan Times, an AI video of international celebrities at the Mahakumbh Mela is creating waves online. The AI video shows top athletes like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi taking a dip in the Sangam, which is the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers.

World leaders like Donald Trump, Rishi Sunak, and Russia’s Vladimir Putin were seen in the AI video. The use of generative AI also brought Hollywood stars like Will Smith, Zendaya and Tom Holland to Mahakumbh. Meanwhile, the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, was seen taking a dip in the Sangam in the AI video. The video was shared on the Instagram page ‘Artificial Budhi’ and has gone viral with 5.7 million views in a matter of a few days. People in the comments section praised how realistic it looked, but also raised concerns about ethicality.

Hence, the viral video is not an original video, it is AI generated. The claim that several celebrities from various countries are seen taking holy dip in the Sangam at the Mahakumbh Mela is False.

(This story was originally published by telugupost.com, and republished by english.varthabharati.in as part of the Shakti Collective)

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