FIFA to protect players from insults at World Cup in Qatar

On the eve of the start of the World Cup in Qatar, the International Football Federation launched a new online service to combat offensive language and discrimination on the Internet. This was announced on November 16 by the FIFA website.

The social media protection service will prevent players from seeing offensive messages when they use their phones in dressing rooms a few minutes after matches.

FIFA will monitor the social media accounts of all World Cup participants, scanning publicly available offensive, discriminatory and threatening comments and then reporting them to social media and law enforcement.

“FIFA strives to provide the best conditions for players to perform to the best of their ability. In Qatar, we are pleased to launch a service that will help protect players from the harmful effects that posting on social media can have on their mental health and well-being,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

Teams, players, and other individuals will also be able to sign up for a moderation service that instantly hides offensive comments on the most popular social networks, preventing them from being viewed by the recipient and their followers.

A report released by FIFA this year found that more than half of the players at last year’s European Championship and Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) experienced discriminatory harassment online.

Brazil player Willian, who was not included in his country’s squad at the World Cup, supported the FIFA campaign initiative, as he himself faced online discrimination.

“I support this campaign because I was in Brazil a year ago and I suffered a lot and my family suffered a lot because people started attacking us on social media, attacking my family,” Willian said.