Dylan Bettencourt
Fifa has conducted a study into online abuse that found half of the players at the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) have been targeted for abuse through social media.
As part of Fifa’s plan to combat online abuse at this year’s World Cup in Qatar, the study tracked around 400,000 social media posts during the semi-final and final of the Afcon and European championships.
The results showed around 50% of the players involved received some element of abuse.
“Our duty is to protect football and that starts with the players,” said Fifa president Gianni Infantino.
“Unfortunately, there is a trend developing where a percentage of posts on social media channels directed towards players, coaches, match officials and the teams are not acceptable. This form of discrimination, like any form of discrimination, has no place in football.”
The report indicated that the majority of the abused players came from their home countries. Homophobic (40%) and racist (38%) abuse made up the majority of the comments.
The research also showed that 90% of the users abusing the football players had a “high probability” of being identified.
In preparation for the World Cup in November, Fifa have teamed up with player organisation Fifpro to launch an “in-tournament moderation service” to identify hate speech.
Once the abuse has been detected, the goal is to ensure the targeted player and their followers cannot see the comment.
“Online abuse is a societal issue and as an industry it is unacceptable for us that this new form of abuse and discrimination affects so many people including our players,” said Fifpro president David Aganzo.
Egyptian Mohamed Salah was amongst the players who were most targeted. The list includes Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka.
Image source: @SabaElBalad
