MOSCOW, July 22 National teams of Belgium, the Netherlands, England and The French football team was the most subject to online abuse during the 2024 European Championship in Germany, according to the official website of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA).
As reported in the release, in total, more than 9 thousand negative messages were noted at the group stage, which were checked and filtered. These messages came from 7,810 individual accounts, and 91% of these offensive posts and comments were removed by social networks.
«Protecting our players, coaches and referees from online abuse is not only a priority, but a responsibility. UEFA's online abuse program has demonstrated our commitment to creating a safer digital environment. Positive reactions from our partners on social media and the participating national associations is encouraging and together we will continue to take care of football,” said UEFA Director of Social and Environmental Sustainability Michele Uva.
Most of the insults (72.5%) were directed at the players. Coaches of national teams received 15.5% of negative comments, 6% — accounts of national teams, 6% — referees. About 92.5% of negative messages were related to general insults. Also, 5% contained racist slurs, and 2.5% contained homophobic context.
The 2024 European Championship took place from June 14 to July 14. The winner of the tournament was the Spanish team, which beat the English team in the final match with a score of 2:1. The Spanish national team became four-time European champions. The Red Fury previously won the trophy in 1964, 2008 and 2012. The Spanish team played their fifth European Championship final, achieving their fourth victory. The Spaniards also became the record holders for the number of European champion titles, beating the German national team (3).