During the group stage of the European Championship 2024, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) identified over 4,600 offensive, racist or homophobic messages on social networks towards teams and players. Belgium is among the most targeted teams.
UEFA monitors the 622 platforms and social media accounts of those involved in the tournament: the "players, coaches and national team accounts". It flagged a total of 4,656 posts (by 4,070 individual users) for further investigation on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and TikTok.
"We believe it is key to protect and support players, coaches and referees in tackling their exposure to online abuse," said UEFA Director of Social and Environmental Sustainability, Michele Uva. "They should be able to focus on their performance on the pitch, and not be weighed down by unacceptable abuse directed at them online."
UEFA 🤝 @Meta
We're monitoring and removing abusive social media posts, ensuring football remains a safe environment for all. Over the #EURO2024 group stage, there were: ⚠️ 4,656 posts flagged; 📣 308 reported to the social platforms; ❌ 71% of these were dealt with. More: ⬇️ — UEFA (@UEFA) July 1, 2024
Nearly three-quarters of these messages (74%) were sent to players, 15% to coaches, 7% to teams and 4% to referees. The most targeted teams were Belgium, Croatia, Ukraine and the Netherlands.
Around 94% of messages contained hate speech, not specifically aimed at any group or community, UEFA said on Monday. Another 4.5% contained racist insults and 1.5% homophobic remarks. "Discrimination should never be accepted, whether in football or society, in person or online," Uva said.
A total of 308 posts (7%) were able to be reported directly to the social media platforms for further action, after which 71% of these abusive posts were sanctioned by the platforms: reported messages were deleted after 75 minutes, on average.
The observation programme has been launched since the Women's Euro 2022. At the end of Euro 2024, UEFA will publish a full report.
