What steps can sports organisations take to protect officials & athletes from online abuse?

“We have gone from a vertical society to a horizontal society where everybody has an opinion about every decision you make, and everybody has an opinion on the Internet straight away.”^[1]

In 2024, former Arsenal Manager Arsène Wenger’s words could not be more relatable. The internet has many wonderful features. It allows us to share, create, inspire, generate income, raise awareness, and meet new people. It has given us access to things that Wenger wouldn’t have even thought about when he made that statement. And with social media, it permits us direct access to people that we do not know and may never meet.  It is this direct access, wrapped in a cloak of internet anonymity, coupled with the belief that there will be no consequence for what is said or done online, that has led to a dramatic growth in online abuse over the past decade.

This article examines the problem of online abuse as it relates to sports men and women and officials, and explores what more can be done to address the issues:

• What does online abuse look like in reality?
• What is this doing to the athletes?
• The law for online abuse (and its fundamental inadequacy)
  • Online Safety Act 2023
• Practical measures for teams and governing bodies
  • Educating athletes on abuse
  • Identifying and punishing abusers
  • Banning abusers
  • Shouting about abuse
  • Hiding abuse
• Private actions and prosecutions
  • Injunctions
  • Cease and desist letters
  • Private prosecutions