3,000 abusive messages sent to players during Project Restart‘The time for talking has passed,’ says Akinfenwa Raheem Sterling has called on
Social Media companies to “show real leadership and take proper action” against online abuse after a study identified more than 3,000 explicitly abusive messages were sent to
Premier League players during Project Restart.
The study – produced by the Professional Footballers’ Association in partnership with the data science company Signify Group and supported by Kick It Out – used machine learning systems to analyse messages sent publicly via
Twitter to 44 black and ethnic minority current and former players, 39 from the Premier League, Women’s Super League and EFL and five from Serie A and the Bundesliga. It found that 56% of the discriminatory abuse was racist, with 43% of the Premier League players experiencing racist abuse during the six-week period in June and July.