On July 1, Georgian-language Facebook users published posts (1, 2, 3) showing a member of the Spanish national team, Nico Williams, celebrating the goal scored against the Georgian national team. Social media users claim that he is mocking or imitating the Georgian football player Giorgi (Georges) Mikautadze with this gesture. In the comments of the posts, a large number of people express anger and abuse towards Williams.
The disseminated photo is misleading and does not confirm the claim that Niko Williams is mocking or imitating Mikoutadze with the gesture shown in the photo. This form of scoring is quite common and has been used by Williams himself in the past.
On June 30, the national teams of Georgia and Spain faced each other at the European Football Championship. The match ended with the victory of the latter, with the score 4:1. The third goal from the Spaniards was scored by Nico Williams, who used the gesture shown in the photo to celebrate the goal. It should be noted that this photo was also published on the official Facebook page of UEFA Euro 2024. For Georgian fans, this gesture is linked to the national team striker Georges Mikautadze, who celebrates almost all scored goals in this style, which became the reason for widespread speculation on Facebook. However, it should be noted that Williams has used this form of expression in the past as well.

It is also important to note that neither Mikautadze nor the Spanish footballer invented using such a gesture when scoring a goal. It is known as the “Goggles celebration” and has been used by many athletes over the years, including basketball players.


Amid the 2024 European Football Championship, a number of false and manipulative claims were spread on social networks, including about the players of the Georgian national team. For details, see:
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