ZURICH – FIFA has removed more than seven million potentially abusive posts and comments on social media during the 2026 World Cup, a figure the governing body said is 14 times higher than the number recorded at the previous tournament in Qatar.
This highlights a sharp rise in online abuse targeting players, coaches and match officials.
With the 48-team tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada set to conclude Sunday with the final between Spain and Argentina at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, FIFA said its Social Media Protection Service has played a key role in identifying and limiting online abuse directed at players, coaches, officials and teams.
The protection program, introduced ahead of the 2022 World Cup in partnership with global players’ union FIFPRO, has been made available to all participating teams and individuals.
It combines artificial intelligence tools with human moderation to monitor harmful content across social media platforms in more than 50 languages.
FIFA’s Social Media Protection Service (SMPS) has moderated more than 53 million posts and comments across social media platforms since the tournament began.
SMPS aims to protect players, teams and officials from online threats and abuse.
The global football governing body said on Saturday that the number of harmful posts identified during the tournament was 14 times higher than at the 2022 World Cup, when about 470,000 abusive posts were removed.
The service, which was established to protect players, teams and officials from online abuse and threats, has reviewed more than 500,000 messages that were flagged by artificial intelligence systems as potentially abusive.
FIFA said more than 1,000 threats identified during the review process had been reported to the relevant authorities, including law enforcement agencies, for further investigation.
The findings come ahead of Sunday’s World Cup final between Argentina and Spain.
Earlier this month, FIFA revealed that racial abuse accounted for 11% of all offensive messages detected during the tournament, underlining the persistent problem of discriminatory behaviour on social media despite efforts to curb it.
FIFA introduced the Social Media Protection Service to monitor online platforms, detect abusive content and help shield players, coaches, officials and teams from harassment, discrimination and threats during major international competitions.
Agencies
