One in five players at the Women’s World Cup were targeted with “discriminatory, abusive or threatening messaging” during the tournament, a new report has revealed.
FIFA and FIFPRO released a new report on online abuse and hate speech directed at players during the 2023 tournament in Australia and New Zealand on Monday, while also outlining their attempts to reduce harm to players via their social media protection service.
Players, coaches, officials and teams can use FIFA’s monitoring or moderation services during the World Cup, and over 2,000 accounts were monitored across five different social platforms.
The data provides a grim picture of just how pervasive online abuse still is for players — and the USWNT led the way, receiving the most online hate of any nation in the tournament.
The report notes “predominantly politically-motivated abuse targeted 2-3 key players” from the USWNT. In another section, the report states that two players from the tournament, one from the U.S. and one from Argentina, were targeted above others, understood to be Megan Rapinoe and Yamila Rodriguez.
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FIFA’s social media protection services were launched at the 2022 World Cup, allowing for a direct comparison between the two data…
