1 in 5 players at Women’s World Cup abused online: FIFA
Zurich, Dec 12: Players at the Women’s World Cup were 29% more likely to receive online abuse than those at the men’s tournament in 2022, said a report published on Monday. One in five players (152) at the Women’s World Cup received “targeted discriminatory, abusive or threatening messaging,” according to FIFA and global players’ association FIFPRO. They released data from FIFA’s Social Media Protection Service (SMPS), which tries to help shield players, teams and officials from online abuse and hate speech. Almost 50% of “detected and verified” abusive messages were homophobic, sexual and sexist, SMPS added. “The abuse that persists online impacts football players all over the world and it cannot be ignored. This toxic online environment is a risky place to be in for players and it affects their mental health and wellbeing,” FIFPRO president David Aganzo said. “Football has a responsibility to protect the players around their workspace.” The SMPS was launched last year and has been used in eight FIFA tournaments. It uses artificial intelligence to try and prevent abuse on participants’ social media feeds. (AP)
DFB to prosecute perpetrators
of online racist abuse
Frankfurt (GERMANY), Dec 12: The German football federation will start prosecuting people who direct racist abuse and hate speech at players online. The federation, known as the DFB, said Tuesday it is working with the public prosecutor’s office in Frankfurt to identify the perpetrators of online abuse and send their cases to local authorities for prosecution. It comes after a slew of racist and discriminatory comments were directed on social media against Black players on Germany’s team that won the Under-17 World Cup for the first time this month. “We do not accept the inhumane hostility toward our players on the internet, but will combat it actively and consistently,” federation vice president Ronny Zimmermann said. “We hope that the initial identifications and prosecutions of perpetrators will have a deterrent effect. Online hate is a problem for society as a whole that we all have to combat together.” The federation said 14 of the comments aimed at the U17 players were deemed to constitute incitement to hatred, leading to investigations in each case, and that cases have been initiated against four individuals. It also said it deleted the offending comments and blocked the users responsible. (AP)
Cueist Amee in hunt for a treble
Chennai, Dec 12: Defending champion Amee Kamani kept herself in the hunt for a treble by making the quarterfinals of the 15 Red women’s snooker at 90th Senior Nationals for cue sports here on Tuesday. Two days after regaining the women’s 6-Red snooker crown, Amee beat Snenthra Babu of Tamil Nadu 2-0 (65-12, 55-44) in the pre-quarterfinals. She thus set her eyes on repeating the treble – 6-Red snooker, 15-Red snooker and billiards in the same year – a feat she achieved in 2017. Meanwhile, the experienced R Umadevi led a Karnataka trio that included Vidya Pillai and last year’s runner-up Keerthana Pandian into the quarters, while Tamil Nadu’s Anupama Ramachandran and RT Mohita also advanced to the last-8 stage. (PTI)