Lusa Verifica confirms row: Sporting used Benfica stadium image | OneFootball

The controversy surrounding the presentation video for Sporting’s new visual identity has taken a new turn. Lusa Verifica concluded that the image used by the Club to illustrate one of the moments in the video was, in fact, created from a photograph of Estádio da Luz, later altered using Artificial Intelligence.

Lusa Verifica’s analysis focused on the video released by Sporting during the 120th anniversary celebrations, particularly the sequence that appears near the 1:48 mark. After several reverse-image searches, the organization concluded that the image used matches a photograph of Estádio da Luz, with changes to the colors of the stands, the giant screen, and other graphic elements.

According to the investigation, the original photograph was found on the Pexels platform, published by Diogo Digital Art and identified as having been taken at Estádio da Luz in October 2025. Lusa Verifica says that several structural elements, such as the roof, the upper wall, the concrete tower, the stairs, and the technical channel, match the image used by Sporting.

Confronted with the situation, Sporting explained that the video was created by the agency responsible for the Club’s new visual identity and that, in some sequences, it used AI-generated images to support the creative concept. Through communications director Gonçalo Santos, the Lions maintain that "any resemblance to a particular stadium results exclusively from the process of generating those images, and does not correspond to a deliberate creative choice or any intentional reference to another club or its stadium".

Even so, Lusa Verifica’s final assessment was "True", considering that the image used in Sporting’s video originated from a photograph of Estádio da Luz, modified through Artificial Intelligence to be included in the presentation video for the Club’s new visual identity.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.