According to FIFA, More Than Half of Players at Euro 2020 and 2021 Africa Cup of Nations Were Abused Online

• FIFA has revealed that the abuse of footballers by trolls is alarmingly high as world football tries to clamp down on this scourge
• According to the global football governing body, more than half the players at Euro 2020 and the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations were subjected to any form of discrimination on social media
• The report showed that most of the abuse directed at the players ironically came from the countries they were representing

It appears that no one will ever be safe from online trolls s long as social media is around.

According to a shocking FIFA report, more than half of the players who participated at Euro 2020 last year and the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon in January were subjected to some kind of discriminatory abuse.

According to TimesLIVE, the independent report used artificial intelligence to track over 400 000 posts on social media platforms during the semifinal and final stages of the two competitions and found the majority of abuse to be homophobic (40%) and racist (38%).

ABC Motsepe side Bayern FC reportedly fearing for their lives after violence marred Secunda M Stars match

Football

Ironically, most of the abuse hurled towards the players originated from the countries they represented, occurring before, during and after matches.

Infamously England's Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka were viciously bombarded with online abuse after missing their spot-kicks in a shootout against Italy that handed the latter the championship, as per CNN.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in a statement:

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."

The report added that the abuse on Twitter was constant across the period of its study while Instagram abuse was "event driven" - like losing a final, for example - and more than 75% of comments on the platform included emojis.

World Cup:Wonderful, emotional scenes as Ukrainians applaud their players despite failing to qualify for Qatar

Football

Mbappe accuses French federation boss of ignoring racist abuse

France international Kylian Mbappe on Sunday accused the president of the French Football Federation (FFF) of ignoring racist abuse after his penalty miss at Euro 2020.

As was reported on Sports Brief, the Paris Saint-Germain star's decisive spot-kick against Switzerland was saved in the last-16 shootout, resulting in the world champions exiting the tournament.

The 23-year-old was vilified on social media by furious fans, and even considered quitting the national team as a result.