Rio Ferdinand is deeply concerned for footballers he believes will become the targets of racist abuse and ‘hate behaviours’ during the World Cup.
The former England defender, who earned 81 caps for the Three Lions, has called on social media companies to do more for athletes he says are not afforded enough protection against virtual vitriol from keyboard warriors, with some incidents warranting criminal investigations.
Ferdinand, expressed exasperation on behalf of players who could fly to Qatar fearing their lifelong dreams of playing on football’s biggest stage will be ruined by racism.
Rio Ferdinand believes players will become the targets of racist abuse during the World Cup
‘I honestly think it probably will happen again,’ he said. ‘It’s unfair. And I don’t think it’s just English players, I think it’s players of colour from all over the world who will be thinking this.
‘For a player to be getting on the pitch and thinking, ‘If I make a mistake, I could be racially abused’, that’s real. And in today’s day and age, should that be the case? It shouldn’t be. It shouldn’t be in any day and age, but you’d think we would have made steps to come forward from this.
‘But the intentions and the values of the social media platforms are there for all to see. They’re not willing to change, because they know that these types of toxic behaviours and hate behaviours drive revenue. So they’re not going to change, it seems to me, at the moment.’
Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka were subjected to a barrage of abuse after missing penalties in England’s Euro 2020 final shootout defeat to Italy, with just four men convicted one year later.
Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka were subjected to a barrage of abuse after missing penalties in England’s Euro 2020 final shootout defeat to Italy
Many criticised the severity and low number of punishments handed out by authorities and, like Ferdinand, have urged tech giants to do more to shield players…
Source : dailymail
