Advertisement

Footballers subjected to 48 per cent increase in racist online abuse, reveals PFA report

Footballs sit on a pitch - AFP
Footballs sit on a pitch - AFP

Social media companies have been accused of turning a blind eye to racist online abuse of players in the wake of a damning new report by the Professional Footballers’ Association.

According to a new research study commissioned by the players’ union, two in every five Premier League players were subjected to discriminatory abuse on Twitter last season.

The report also claimed there was a 48 per cent increase in unmoderated racist online abuse on the platform during the second half of the 2020/21 campaign and found that, of 53 countries from which abusive posts were detected, just over half of those messages originated from the UK.

Signify, an ethical data science company employed by the PFA to carry out the research, monitored more than six million posts on Twitter by studying player accounts from the Premier League, English Football League and Women’s Super League.

A total of 1,781 abusive messages from 1,674 accounts were reported to Twitter, a third of which were identified as being affiliated to UK clubs, but, as of last month, 44 per cent of those posts were still visible on the platform, according to the report.

A total of 367 accounts identified as fans, members or season ticket holders at specific clubs were reported to the clubs in questions. Ten accounts that were deemed to have passed criminal thresholds were reported to the police. Four players alone were the target of a fifth of all abuse detected by the study.

Despite a social media boycott in May aimed at highlighting the impact of racist abuse, incidents peaked that month around the time of the FA Cup, Europa League and Champions League finals. The Cup final between Chelsea and Leicester and league meeting between the two clubs three days later saw a spike in racist, abusive messages, with Leicester’s Daniel Amartey a notable target.

The report also found players across the leagues faced homophobic, ableist and sexist abuse, with homophobic messages discovered in 33 per cent of abusive posts.

Troy Deeney, the Watford captain and a representative of the recently formed PFA Players’ Board, said: “Social media companies are huge businesses with the best tech people. If they wanted to find solutions to online abuse, they could. This report shows they are choosing not to. When is enough, enough?

“Now we know that abusive accounts and their affiliation to a club can be identified, more must be done to hold these people accountable.”

Troy Deeney playing for Watford - PA
Troy Deeney playing for Watford - PA

The new PFA chief executive, Maheta Molango, wants to see social media companies crack down on the issue. “The PFA’s work with Signify clearly shows that the technology exists to identify abuse at scale and the people behind offensive accounts,” he said. “Having access to this data means that real world consequences can be pursued for online abuse.

“We have made it clear to social networks that it’s not good enough. There are specific measures that need to be taken. It’s not just about taking down the account. It’s about holding people responsible. It’s not down to the victim to push a button [to block or mute someone who is abusing them].”

A spokesperson for Twitter said it was their “top priority” to keep everyone who uses the site “safe and free from abuse” and referenced how they swiftly removed over 1,000 tweets and permanently suspended a number of accounts in the hours after the Euro 2020 final last month.

They acknowledged that “there is still work to be done” but said they “continue to take action when we identify any tweets or accounts that violate Twitter rules” and insisted “abusive and hateful conduct has no place on our service”.

It is thought Twitter feel the PFA report does not accurately reflect the steps they have taken to improve the health of conversations of their site and proactively enforce their rules. Twitter’s latest transparency report is understood to show a 142 per cent increase in the number of accounts actioned for violations of their abuse policy and a 77 per cent increase in the number of accounts actioned for contravening their hateful conduct policy.

New chief Maheta Molango has many plates to keep spinning

For a man seeking to leave the past behind by pushing a progressive agenda, one with openness, inclusion and trust at its core, the setting could not have been more appropriate. The Bonded Warehouse in Manchester, originally a railway terminus in the 1800s and later part of the old Granada Studios, is every inch the modern space with its exposed brick walls and minimalist interior. And it was here that Maheta Molango, the Professional Footballers’ Association’s first new chief executive in 40 years, was busy spelling out his vision on Wednesday morning for an organisation requiring modernisation of its own.

It has been a month now since the 39-year-old Swiss-born lawyer and former chief executive of Mallorca, whose own playing career included stints in England as a striker with Brighton, Lincoln, Oldham, Wrexham and Grays, formally began work four months after being picked to succeed Gordon Taylor, for so long the union’s ringmaster.

During that time Molango has visited over half of the 20 Premier League clubs, a roadshow that began with a visit to Burnley on July 19 and which saw Wolves become his 12th stop on Wednesday afternoon, all part of a concerted effort to get in front of the members he now represents, listen to their opinions and give them a voice. It has not helped the house-hunting process with his wife but he looks and sounds like a man in a hurry to make a difference.

As a foreigner who came to these shores to play, Molango is certainly well placed to get through to those who perhaps have little knowledge of the PFA and its purpose, just as his experience of playing in the lower tiers gives him some insight into the challenges further down the pyramid. Players are already appreciating his ability to converse in their native tongue. Molango is fluent in English, Spanish, French, Italian and German.

Jordan Henderson and Harry Maguire, captains of Liverpool and Manchester United respectively, have been among those exchanging messages with Molango and he has been encouraged both by the reception he has had from players so far and the questions they are posing. Some have raised concerns about fixture congestion, which is probably why you will not find Molango supporting the idea of a World Cup every two years, others have wanted to know why there are no former players on VAR panels amid exasperation about some of the decisions that are made.

Jordan Henderson playing for Liverpool - PA
Jordan Henderson playing for Liverpool - PA

One of Molango’s first tasks has been to highlight the perceived failings of social media companies to hold to account those guilty of racist, homophobic, ableist and sexist abuse against footballers online by commissioning a damning report on the issue. The study, carried out by the data science company, Signify, found there was a 48 per cent increase in unmoderated racist online abuse during the second half of last season. “It’s not down to the victim to push a button [to block or mute someone who is abusing them],” he said.

Still, that only scrapes the surface of Molango’s bulging in-tray. The fall-out from the final years of Taylor’s controversial regime means there are plenty of sensitive issues to contend with going forward and, while Molango vowed to always be open and upfront, there were some matters that brought out the lawyer in him. He was reluctant, for example, to commit to publishing the independent review into the PFA’s governance, despite calls to do so from, among others, Gary Neville, who has urged the union’s new-look board to “do the right thing”.

Molango said 85 per cent of the recommendations in the review, which was completed last summer, had already been implemented but skilfully side-stepped questions when asked if he felt publication would help the PFA’s efforts to draw a line under the past. The union must also await the outcome of an independent inquiry by the Charity Commission into the governance, management and finances of the PFA Charity. The issue of dementia in football is also highly sensitive. The PFA were accused of being too slow to act after the death of the former West Bromwich Albion striker Jeff Astle from the disease in 2002.

On the failed European Super League plot in April, Molango - formerly Atletico Madrid’s legal counsel - was a little more forthcoming and admitted that anything that disrupted the sanctity of the English pyramid system was a “concern”. He also recognised the need for financial sustainability across the game but would not offer a specific position on salary caps after the previous PFA regime successfully killed off attempts to introduce wage limits in the EFL.

One thing is clear - Molango will not be short of things to keep him busy.