Afcon 2021 & Euro 2020:  Over 50% of players abused online - Fifa and Fifpro report

Over 50% of players who featured in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations and Euro 2020 suffered online abuse, a report by Fifa and Fifpro has found out.

The world football governing body and the players union tried to identify those who targeted the players with social media abuse. According to BBC Sport, Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka and his English counterpart Marcus Rashford suffered the most during the Euro 2020 final.

Both missed their penalties in the shootout defeat against Italy in the final.

Over 400,000 social media posts were tracked during the semi-finals and finals of the Euros and this year's Afcon, which was held in Cameroon. The study concluded that over 50% of players received some kind of abuse.

Additionally, the report found out that most of the abuse during the two competitions came from the players' home countries. Homophobic abuse made up 40%, while racist comments made up 38%.

"Our duty is to protect football, and that starts with the players who bring so much joy and happiness to all of us with their exploits on the field of play," 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 themselves is not acceptable.

"This form of discrimination, like any form of discrimination, has no place in football."

On his part, Fifpro president David Aganzo said; "Online abuse is a societal issue and as an industry, we cannot accept that this new form of abuse and discrimination affects so many people, including our players.

"This collaboration recognises football's responsibility to protect the players and other affected groups against the abuse they increasingly face in and around their workplace."

Fifa and Fifpro are set to launch an in-tournament moderation service that will scan recognised hate speech terms published to identified social media accounts and, once detected, the aim is to prevent such comments from being seen by the recipient and their followers.