Fifa's social media protection service (SMPS) has identified a significant increase in the most serious forms of online racist abuse targeting players during the World Cup. The service's data indicates a concerning trend in racially aggravated abuse, despite improvements in detection methods.
More than 100 examples of abuse identified by the SMPS have passed the legal thresholds for initiating enforcement actions. The scale of online activity monitored has also increased, with over six million posts and comments scanned—a 33% rise—leading to 225,000 identified for human review. Approximately 1,000 accounts were flagged for further investigation, and 181,000 hateful comments were hidden from public view.
This surge in abuse follows incidents where Netherlands players who missed penalties in a shootout against Morocco on Monday were subjected to discriminatory and hateful comments on social media. The Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) confirmed that Justin Kluivert, Quinten Timber, and Crysencio Summerville experienced this racist abuse.