The findings emerged from an analysis of 5.1 million posts and comments about 697 players and coaches participating in the tournament in Australia and New Zealand
The findings emerged from analysis of 5.1million posts and comments relating to 697 players and coaches taking part in the tournament in Australia and New Zealand.
N The analysis also found players at the Women's World Cup were 29 percent more likely to receive abuse compared to male players at last year's World Cup in Qatar.
FIFA said two players—one from the United States, and one from Argentina, whose identities were not revealed—were targeted above all. Colombian player Leicy Santos was quoted in the report saying the abuse was harmful to mental health. "If there is one thing that footballers suffer from the most, apart from losing, it is all the abusive comments – the taunts, the insults," Santos said. "Beyond what we do as professional footballers, we are people. Some players are able to put up with the outrageous abuse we receive online, but other players aren't. It is a very sensitive issue when it comes to mental health."
"There can be no place on social media for those who abuse or threaten anyone, be that in FIFA tournaments or elsewhere," Infantino said in a statement. Infantino said that since the SMPS system was first introduced last year, players, teams and officials had been shielded from more than 400,000 abusive comments.