sports📡 BBC SportJul 1, 2026👁 4 views

Concern over rise in online racist abuse at World Cup

Concern over rise in online racist abuse at World Cup

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Justin Kluivert was the first Netherlands player to miss a penalty in the shootout defeat to Morocco

ByDale JohnsonFootball issues correspondent

    The Word Cup has suffered a 'significant increase' in the most serious examples of racist abuse online, Fifa's social media protection service (SMPS) has found.

    A total of 89,000 abusive posts were identified across the group stage of the 2026 tournament.

    It marks a 13-fold increase compared to 2022 when 6,700 abusive comments were identified, although 48 matches were played in Qatar rather than 72.

    Racism represented 11% of all online abuse.

    The SMPS said this was a 3% rise on four years ago, and added there was a significant increase in the objectively worst, most offensive material.