More than half of players in Euro 2020 and AFCON finals abused online during and after game finds FIFA study

More than half of the players involved in the Euro 2020 and AFCON finals were abused online during and after the games, a FIFA study has found.

Homophobic abuse was the most common, followed by racist abuse, with Sky Sports News reporting that Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka and Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford were the players subjected to the most abuse.

In both finals, most of the abuse originated from the home nation of the targeted players. 38 per cent of the abuse aimed at English players came from the United Kingdom, with 18 per cent of abuse aimed at Egyptian players originating in that country.

Both England and Egypt were beaten on penalties by Italy and Senegal in their respective finals. Black players who missed penalties for England were the most abused players in the Euro 2020 Final.

FIFA and FIFPRO have responded by announcing a dedicated in-tournament moderation “that will scan recognised hate speech terms published to identified social media accounts, and once detected, prevent that comment from being seen by the recipient and their followers.”

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said that such abuse would be tackled ahead of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

“Our duty is to protect football, and that starts with the players who bring so much joy and happiness to all of us by their exploits on the field of play.

“Unfortunately, there is a trend developing where a percentage of posts on social media channels directed towards players, coaches, match officials and the teams themselves is not acceptable, and this form of discrimination – like any form of discrimination – has no place in football.”

“With the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and FIFA World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023 on the horizon, FIFA and FIFPRO recognise it is important to make a stand and to include what is monitored on social media with what is already being monitored in the stadiums.

“We want our actions to speak louder than our words and that is why we are taking concrete measures to tackle the problem directly.