Chelsea And Liverpool’s Mario Balotelli tops the twitter hate list
A study into the levels of abuse targeted at Premier League clubs and players online has revealed that more than 130,000 abusive posts have been made via social media so far this season.
The research, carried out by anti-discrimination body Kick It Out, found that Chelsea were the most targeted club, with – surprise surprise – Mario Balotelli suffering more abuse than any other player.
Far more in fact: Balotelli received well over 8,000 discriminatory posts. Second on the list was Danny Welbeck with 1,700 posts. Over half of the abuse received by both players was of a racist nature.
*Sigh* Some people really are terrible.
BBC Sport have published Kick It Out’s findings today, with the results making for depressing viewing…
The numbers (taken from Twitter, Facebook, forums and blogs) equate to 16,800 discriminatory posts a month, 551 per day, one message every 2.6 minutes.
Remember, this is just a football season’s worth (August 2014 to March 2015) of Premier League abuse we’re talking about. We’re certain we’re not even close to seeing the full extent of the problem here.
The Kick It Out study found that over 50% of the abuse was race and gender related, though sexual orientation, disability and anti-semitic abuse also made up a depressingly large slice of the pie…
“The level of abuse is truly staggering,” Kick It Out director Roisin Wood said.
“We must do all we can as a collective to protect those who are on the receiving end of discriminatory abuse.”
The group are now exploring the possibility of forming a dedicated task force to tackle “head on” the level of football-related racist, sexist and homophobic abuse online.
Good luck with that chaps. Something tells us it’ll be like trying to plait smoke.
Posted: 19th, April 2015 | In: Chelsea, Sports Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
