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Sportradar aims to protect athletes from social media abuse

| By iGB Editorial Team
Sportradar has launched a new solution designed to help sports organisations safeguard professional athletes from abuse on social media.

Sportradar has launched a new solution designed to help sports organisations safeguard professional athletes from abuse on social media.

The solution, which Sportradar said is an industry-first offering, is available to all sporting federations, leagues and governing bodies around the world.

According to Sportradar, the solution is designed to protect the mental health and wellbeing of athletes by keeping them free from harm online, as well as to discourage future trolling and abuse via investigation, proactive intervention and disruption.

The service works by identifying individuals behind anonymous ‘troll’ or ‘burner’ accounts, which are used to direct abuse at athletes, with Sportradar recording its findings.

Sportradar will share this data with its partners and then pursue the appropriate course of action, including having abusive accounts removed from social media platforms and working with law enforcement officials to bring legal proceedings if necessary.

“Maintaining the integrity of sport and ensuring that it’s safe, fair and enjoyable for all, has long been our priority,” managing director integrity services at Sportradar, Andreas Krannich, said.

“Now, with this new service, we’ve strengthened our position in this space by safeguarding the athletes who compete in it and protecting them from online harm and social media abuse.”

Sportradar trialled the new solution earlier this year at the Exo-Tennis Series in Germany and the US, where participating players shared abusive messages they had received on social media.

Sportradar then used the solution to provide the event organisers with details of the problem accounts and also supplied a set of recommendations on the best course of action in order to prevent any future abuse.  

“We are providing a tangible output that our partners can share with their athletes and we’re providing support to those partners in pursuing an appropriate course of action,” Krannich said.

“The service we now have in place can act as a deterrent to future online abuse and create real change, particularly when people see the impact it has.”

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