Tackling online abuse across our competitions
Thursday, September 18, 2025
Article summary
Our dedicated online safety platform flagged 1,182 social media posts for removal during the latter stages of the 2024/25 season.
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As part of our ongoing efforts to combat online abuse, and in collaboration with social media platforms Meta, TikTok and X, around 80% of reported abusive posts were either removed or restricted between April and August 2025, comprising the UEFA club competition finals, Women's EURO and various youth and futsal competitions (158 matches in total).
A total of 2,256 accounts were included in the monitoring scheme, ensuring the social media profiles of players, coaches, referees, participating teams and major media outlets were all covered. Those affected were informed subsequently so that they could take further action as required.
A dedicated platform to monitor and report online abuse was launched ahead of UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 as part of a multi-season investment, marking the first time a sports governing body has actively monitored online abuse and collaborated with social media platforms to remove offensive posts.
The initiative will continue across all finals and final tournaments until at least 2028.
Online abuse across competitions
An analysis of abusive posts per competition reveals that teams and players participating in the men’s club finals were most affected, with an average of 144 critical posts per match monitored. By contrast, participants of national team competitions appear to be less impacted.
Also notable was the fact that the levels of abuse reported during the men’s and women’s EURO final tournaments were comparable, indicating a similar level of exposure across genders.
Encouragingly, players and teams competing in the UEFA Women's Champions League, as well as youth and futsal competitions, were found to be largely unaffected by online abuse, with more respectful and inclusive conversation prevailing.
Focus on UEFA club finals
During this season's UEFA Champions League, Europa League, Conference League and Women's Champions League finals, as well as the Super Cup, 578 social media posts were flagged for removal.
Of the reported posts, 91% (575 posts) were either removed or restricted, and encouragingly there was an 18% reduction in abusive content compared to the previous season.
Participants in the men’s club finals were most impacted by online abuse, with a total of 575 posts flagged for review by the platforms. As already observed during the previous season, players were the primary targets, accounting for 91% of the abuse, followed by coaches (5%), teams (3%) and referees (1%).
The identified posts were classified as hate speech (65%), racism (33%) and homophobia (2%).
What is UEFA doing to tackle online abuse?
Our commitment to tackling online abuse is a cornerstone of our Football Sustainability Strategy 2030, which outlines our responsibility to fight discrimination on and off the pitch. The work in this specific domain is deployed across the following three pillars:
- Engagement and prevention: engaging with the teams to inform them about preventive measures that can be taken to limit the amount of abusive content on their profiles.
- Monitoring and reporting: Using a combination of automated scanning and human review, our dedicated platform actively monitors and reports critical posts to social media.
- Action and remedy: sharing match findings with the teams and local authorities to enable the remedy process.
Furthermore, we continue to raise awareness around this topic through the Outraged documentary series and Real Scars campaign. The award-winning documentary is available on UEFA.tv and distributed to our broadcaster partners. The series discusses discrimination and abuse in football, raising awareness and fostering discussions on these critical issues. The campaign highlights the devastating effects of online abuse directed at football players, coaches and officials, and provides education on how to defend against such abuse.
We strongly encourage everyone to help create a safer online community by reporting any harmful or discriminatory content to the respective social media platforms. Victims of online abuse or hate speech who are struggling with self-harm or suicidal thoughts should seek support from medical professionals. If online threats or comments cause fear for personal safety, contacting the police is advised.