FIFA says it has reported over 30,000 abusive posts to social media companies this year as part of its push to curb online harassment in football.
In its annual update, the world governing body confirmed that 11 individuals were referred to national law enforcement agencies in 2025, while one case was handed to Interpol. The people involved—located in Argentina, Brazil, France, Poland, Spain, the UK and the US—were identified after posting abuse linked to FIFA competitions.
Speaking on the International Day for Tolerance, FIFA president Gianni Infantino called for stronger protection within the sport.
“Football must be a safe and inclusive space everywhere—on the pitch, in the stands and online,” he said. “With the Social Media Protection Service (SMPS), and through a mix of advanced technology and expert review, we’re taking real steps to shield players, coaches, teams and match officials from the damage caused by online abuse.”
Launched in 2022 in partnership with global players’ union FIFPRO, the SMPS tracks, reports and filters harmful content aimed at football participants.
FIFA had drawn criticism earlier this year after appearing to scale back anti-racism messages at the Club World Cup in the US, but the organisation maintained that the SMPS was fully operational during the competition.
A statement from FIFA detailed the scale of monitoring at the tournament: 2,401 active accounts were tracked across five social platforms, 5.9 million posts were analysed, 179,517 were flagged, and 20,587 were reported.
Infantino reaffirmed FIFA’s commitment to tackling abuse:
“This behaviour has no place in football or society. We will keep working with associations, confederations and law enforcement to hold offenders accountable—and we’re also blacklisting individuals from buying tickets for FIFA events.”
Since its introduction, the SMPS has reported more than 65,000 abusive posts.
