Alarming record

4,600 offensive posts in the European Championship group stage

Jude Bellingham has often been the victim of racist insults.(Bild: AFP/APA/INA FASSBENDER)

The European Football Union had 4,656 posts on social media with offensive, racist or homophobic content checked during the European Championship group stage. Posts on platforms such as Twitter, Instagram and Tiktok that were directed at players, coaches, officials and other participants in the final round were monitored. 

71 percent of these "abusive posts were tracked by the platforms", UEFA announced on Monday.

Mostly players the victims
Around 94 percent of the flagged posts contained general insults. 4.5 percent of the posts reviewed were racist and 1.5 percent were homophobic abuse. In most cases (74 percent), the players were victimized. 15 percent of the messages reviewed were directed against the coaches, 7 percent against the teams and around 4 percent against the referees. According to UEFA, the teams most affected were Belgium, Croatia, Ukraine and the Netherlands.

The content review will take place as part of a program created by UEFA, which was used for the first time at the 2022 Women's European Championship. According to UEFA, the national associations will be informed of abusive content on the internet after each match. They are therefore free to take criminal action against the authors.