Gary Sinclair: Football is a magnet for online abuse — but it is also the ideal platform to challenge it

A culture of online abuse permeates football at all levels, with significant implications

England's Bukayo Saka: The abuse received by players in a high-profile match is only the tip of the iceberg of a widespread culture of online abuse that permeates football at all levels. Picture: AP/Darko Vojinovic

As Euro 2024 enjoys nears its end, thoughts will have returned to how the last one ended. One of the abiding memories of the Euro 2020 final was the vile racist abuse black English players received following the team’s penalty shootout loss against Italy.

Although the media had reported on online hate and abuse in sport before, this was the first time the issue really caught the public’s attention in terms of widespread condemnation, and was covered comprehensively by the press.