A panel of people sitting on a stage

Watch the experts discuss online abuse in football

Published: 12 August 2022
Last updated: 16 March 2023

Last week we held our Crossing the Line event, to showcase research we undertook in partnership with the Alan Turing Institute looking at the extent of online abuse against footballers.

The research found that while the vast majority of fans use social media responsibly, hundreds of abusive tweets are sent to footballers every day. And while seven in every ten Premier League players are targeted, a handful of players face the majority of abuse.

An expert panel discussed the findings and gave in insight into their own experiences and views on online abuse.

Panellists included: TV presenter and former England player Gary Lineker; Manchester United player Aoife Mannion; Professional Footballers' Association Chief Executive Maheta Molango; and Kick It Out Chair Sanjay Bhandari.

They provided candid, expert views on the topic, opening up about what they and others in the sport have experienced, and gave their thoughts on what could be done to tackle this problem.

Watch edited highlights from the panel discussion below.

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