No, the NFL didn’t punish three referees after an Atlanta Falcons-Minnesota Vikings game

The Minnesota Vikings topped the Atlanta Falcons 42-21 on Dec. 8, and a few days later, misinformation about the NFL matchup was spreading on social media. 

“BREAKING NEWS: Referees in the game between the Atlanta Falcons and the Minnesota Vikings have been suspended as the game showed the referees overlooked countless fouls by Falcons,” a Dec. 11 Facebook post said.

A similar Dec. 12 Facebook post said: “BREAKING: The NFL suddenly fired 3 referees who officiated the game between the Atlanta Falcons and the Minnesota Vikings last Sunday for being involved in the largest bribery ring in NFL history.” It was later removed from the platform.

These posts were flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads.)

We asked an NFL spokesperson about the posts but didn’t hear back. 

However, we found no credible evidence — such as news reports or public statements from the league — to corroborate claims three referees had been suspended or fired because of the game, let alone at all. 

A similar Dec. 16 Facebook post claimed, without evidence, that the NFL had fired three refs “who officiated the game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams for their involvement in the largest bribery scheme in NFL history.”

We rated that False. The claims about the Falcons-Vikings refs get the same treatment: False.