Eriksen's collapse at Euro 2020 leads to latest example of online misinformation
Social media users should wait for facts before theorizing about cause, says Bring It In
The sports world paused when Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen collapsed on the pitch in a Euro 2020 match on Saturday.
The game itself was suspended for 90 minutes, as Eriksen's teammates huddled around their fallen leader, who had gone into cardiac arrest.
On the internet, many social-media users expressed their sympathy for Eriksen, his wife and the Danish team as a whole for the scary incident. Eriksen was treated immediately, and in stable condition at a Copenhagen hospital as of Monday. Denmark team doctor Morton Boesen said the cause remained unclear.
However, others soon began theorizing that the collapse was caused either by COVID-19 or the vaccine. That was soon debunked by Eriksen's club team Inter Milan, which said in a statement the 29-year-old had neither contracted the virus nor been inoculated against it.
On the latest episode of CBC Sports video series Bring It In, hosts Morgan Campbell and Meghan McPeak are joined by guest panellist Corey Erdman to discuss the spread of misinformation that consumed parts of the internet following Eriksen's collapse. The trio also talk about boxing champion Claressa Shields' triumphant mixed martial arts debut and Drake's attendance at a high-school game featuring Bronny James.
WATCH | Bring It In on reaction to Eriksen's collapse:
Campbell made the whole situation clear in one sentence.
"The bottom line is Christian Eriksen did not have COVID-19 and he did not have the vaccine, so whatever it is that made his heart stop beating, one, we're glad they were able to restart it and two, it wasn't the vaccine," Campbell said.
Added McPeak: "We are now turning a horrific and scary and terrifying event not only for Christian Eriksen, for his teammates, but for his family on live national television into an anti-vaccine COVID conspiracy."
The conspiracy theory spread online before Inter Milan's doctor was able to reveal the facts about Eriksen's history with the virus.
McPeak says Eriksen deserves credit for allowing that private medical information to be made public.
"He could've easily just left this alone and said I'm not going to tell people. He made the decision to say, 'Put my medical information out there because I'm not allowing conspiracy theorists to even touch this.' And even with that information, they're still running with the conspiracy," McPeak said.
Even with all the facts, the conspiracy continues to find legs.
"They're not going to follow this story until its actual end," Erdman said of the conspiracy theorists. "Even the information now, they've literally told you that he did not have COVID and didn't take the vaccine. Those people aren't going to be reading those news sources to even find that out and they don't want that information even if it were placed in front of them."
Erdman, a boxing writer, also joined with Campbell and McPeak to talk about the implications of Shields, a two-time Olympic boxing champion, winning her first MMA fight.
WATCH | Bring It In breaks down Shields' MMA turn:
