By: Ankita Kulkarni
December 18 2023
Did Travis Head back Usman Khawaja's pro-Palestine stance on X? No, It's an imposter account
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Screenshot of the post shared on X. (Source: X/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)
Fact-Check
The Verdict False
Head did not post any statement to support Khawaja's "all lives are equal" message. A fake account impersonating the Australian had shared the post.
Claim ID b0a111fa
Context
An X post allegedly by Australian cricketer Travis Head claims that he has extended support to his fellow team member Usman Khawaja, who made headlines last week after the International Cricket Council (ICC) barred him from wearing shoes bearing the inscription "all lives are equal" and "freedom is a human right."
Khawaja was seen sporting the shoes at the team’s main training session on December 12 and planned to wear them on the first day of Australia's opening test match against Pakistan on December 14. After 1CC’s intervention stopped him from wearing the shoes with the message that highlighted the loss of civilian lives in Gaza amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, Khawaja supported a black arm band on Day 1 of the match.
Against this backdrop, X account ‘@ImTravisHead’ posted an image of Khwaja (archived here) with the caption, “We stand with Usman Khawaja! All lives are Equal.” Based on this now-deleted post, several users believe that Head has come out in support of Khwaja's pro-Palestine stance.
However, the post was made from a fake account named after Head and not from his official account.
What did we find?
An analysis of the X account ‘@ImTravisHead’ suggested that it wasn’t Head’s official account. Although its bio seems genuine, the account has shared only 85 posts so far. The date of joining the platform was mentioned as September 2022, and the first post from the account was shared as recently as October 10.
To confirm whether ‘@ImTravisHead’ was the cricketer’s official account or not, Logically Facts reached out to Travis Head's management team. "No, it is not. His official account is @travishead34, " Andrew McRitchie, head of the sports consultancy firm that manages Head’s accounts, told us.
Head's official account ‘@travishead34’ was created in May 2013. The bio links to Head's official Instagram account and mentions affiliations with teams like West End Redbacks and Adelaide Strikers. The account had shared 344 posts altogether, and the first post was shared on May 1, 2013.
Comparison between Head’s official account and the fake account. (Source: X/Screenshots)
Head had made no comment on Khwaja’s humanitarian message from his official X account. We also examined Head’s Instagram account and did not come across any statement on Khawaja. We also could not find any media reports on Head’s public statements regarding Khawaja.
Andrew Wu, a sports journalist affiliated with Australian media outlet Nine.com.au, clarified on X that the account ‘@ImTravisHead’ was fake. Sharing a link to the viral post from Head’s fake account, Wu wrote, “Word of warning, this isn’t Travis Head’s account. I’ve checked with his management.
Logically Facts has also debunked a similar claim where another fake account named after Head falsely claimed that he dedicated the World Cup victory to Palestine.
The verdict
Head has not shared a social media post in support of Khawaja amid the dispute over his shoes bearing pro-Palestine messaging. The post originated from a fake account; therefore, we have marked this claim as false.
