Combating Online Abuse in Sports

Online abuse in sport has become a pervasive global challenge, affecting athletes, teams, officials, and sporting communities across all levels of competition. Despite growing awareness, scholarly attention has largely concentrated on hate speech, leaving other critical forms of abuse underexplored. This open access edited collection addresses this gap by offering a comprehensive examination of the multifaceted nature of online abuse in sport, structured around seven categories identified by Kurt Thomas: toxic content, content leakage, overloading, false reporting, impersonation, surveillance, and lockout and control. The volume comprises eight chapters, beginning with an introductory overview of online abuse in sport, followed by chapters that explore each category in depth. Each chapter defines the forms of abuse within its scope and discusses the key themes, impact, and potential solutions. By expanding the focus beyond traditional notions of online hate, this book provides an integrated and critical assessment of the diverse manifestations of online abuse in sport. It serves as an essential reference for scholars, practitioners, and policymakers seeking to understand, prevent, and respond to online harms in sporting contexts.

Theo Lynn is Full Professor of Digital Business at DCU Business School, Ireland. He specialises in the role of digital technologies in transforming business and society and his main teaching areas are strategy and digital marketing.  

Gary Sinclair is an Associate Professor in Marketing and is the Associate Dean for Internationalisation at DCU Business School, Ireland. His research focuses on consumer culture primarily in the contexts of music, technology, sport and sustainability.  

Katie Liston is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Sport, Ulster University, UK. Her research is on gendered online hate, and on the education and training of sports journalists and professional footballers around the management of online hate.  

David Hassan is Professor of Sport Policy and Management at Ulster University, UK, specialising in the governance of international sporting bodies. He supports the research and development agenda of the FIA, including its advocacy for safeguarding drivers, volunteers and officials.