Fez – In a recent press release, the United Against Online Abuse Campaign (UAOA) revealed that nearly 90 % of respondents to a survey they issued said that they “strongly” or “somewhat agree” that online attacks can cause athletes to abandon their careers.
UAOA is a collaboration between national governments, regulatory institutions and fellow supporting bodies, with the objective of building a global coalition to tackle online abuse within sports.
The questionnaire was sent to 73 international sports federations. Twenty-two responded, including FIFA (football), the IOC (Olympism), World Athletics (athletics), the FIA (motor sports), the UCI (cycling) and the ITF (tennis).
Mohammed Ben Sulayem, founding partner of the UAOA and President of the FIA, stated in the press release that the coalition aims “to rid sports of the scourge of online abuse, as well as bring about behavioral and regulatory change to create a safer, more harmonious environment free from abuse, hate speech and harassment.”
Abuse of players, athletes, and officials is a widespread and growing issue, affecting all levels of sport from grassroots competitions to major professional events.
Persistent exposure to personally offensive content can damage an athlete’s mental and physical health and ultimately their performance, which can be devastating for these professionals’ career and livelihoods.
Among the categories of attacks, racism, and misogyny are the two most common amongst athletes all over the world.
The UAOA organization intends to use the results of this study to protect athletes around the world from such attacks.
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