FIFA reports rise in racist and abusive posts during World Cup group stage | OneFootball

FIFA said in a statement that its Social Media Protection Service had identified 89,000 abusive posts during the 2026 World Cup group stage, 11% of them racist.

It analysed more than 6 million posts and comments, up 33% on 2022 at the same stage. Reviews led to 181,000 hateful comments being masked and in-depth investigations into about 1,000 users.

Launched in 2022, the service is available to all teams, players, coaches and match officials in FIFA competitions. Racist attacks formed the largest category of abuse recorded since the start of the tournament.

After 72 group matches there were already 13 times more abusive posts than during the 2022 group stage, when 6,700 were logged. The earlier edition featured 32 nations, compared with 48 this year.

More than 100 examples were identified that meet a legal threshold to prepare potential action against the users concerned.

Source: L'Équipe