The 2023 Women’s World Cup was not without its controversy, and a new report released by FIFA and global players' association FIFPRO only further confirms that fact.
After analyzing over five million posts and comments, the report came to a startling conclusion: One in five players (152 of 697 players) were targeted by online abuse during the tournament. Nearly half of "detected and verified" abusive messages during the World Cup were homophobic, sexual, or sexist.
During the month-long tournament hosted by Australia and New Zealand this past summer, the U.S. women’s soccer team faced more than twice the amount of online abuse than any other nation, according to the report.
The report used data from FIFA’s Social Media Protection Service (SMPS) tool, which aims to shield players and coaches from harmful content on social media.
The USWNT topped the chart with the most instances of online abuse followed by Argentina, England, and Spain. As the then-reigning World Cup champions, Team USA faced a peak amount of harassment on social media after getting knocked out of the tournament by Sweden in the round of 16. Former President Donald Trump infamously blamed the loss on current President Joe Biden, and other critics took shots at some USWNT players' "unpatriotic" and "anti-American" actions, such as declining to sing the national anthem before games.
The second-highest spike of online abuse in the tournament occurred during Spain’s 1—0 victory over England in the final. In the ensuing celebrations, Spanish soccer federation President Luis Rubiales’ unsolicited kiss on the lips of star forward Jennifer Hermoso triggered an onslaught of sexual and misogynist messages. Afterward, Hermoso accused Rubiales of sexual assault, and Rubiales resigned less than a month later.
The report additionally showed that players at the Women's World Cup were 29 percent more likely to receive online abuse compared to their male counterparts in the World Cup at Qatar last winter.
"There can be no place on social media for those who abuse or threaten anyone, be that in FIFA tournaments or elsewhere," FIFA president Gianni Infantino said. "Discrimination has no place in football and no place in society."
