"FIFA" records an increase in "offensive posts."

FIFA has observed a 13-fold increase in abusive posts on social media directed at participants in the 2026 World Cup, compared to the edition held four years ago in Qatar.

FIFA's social media protection system shielded players from 89,000 posts that were verified to contain abusive comments during the first round of the tournament. In the same stage of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, 6,700 posts were recorded, according to FIFA.

Even taking into account the participation of 48 teams in this year's tournament compared to 32 teams in the Qatar World Cup in 2022, the statistics remain concerning, as FIFA clarified that as a result of monitoring 89,000 posts, around 1,000 accounts were referred for further investigation.

FIFA noted that 11% of the 89,000 abusive posts were racially motivated, while the artificial intelligence system flagged 225,000 comments for human review, of which 89,000 were described as abusive.

The content management system also gathers the necessary evidence for law enforcement, while FIFA mentioned that over 100 cases meeting legal standards for filing charges have been identified since the group stage of the current World Cup.

FIFA revealed that more than 2 million comments were hidden during the group stage of the 2026 World Cup, an increase of 400% compared to the same period of the Qatar World Cup.

It is worth noting that the content management system is available to all teams, players, coaches, and referees in the tournament, to protect them and their followers from discriminatory and abusive content.