Online Abuse in Sport - It’s Just Not Cricket
In March 2026, a middle-aged woman was allegedly murdered in South Africa. News reports indicate that she was a vibrant and kind human being. Her heart was in the game of cricket and its people. Her younger lover, a Western Province club cricketer, is accused of committing the alleged crime. An altercation is said to have started over texts and voice notes, a domestic dispute followed and police arrived to investigate an accident or suicide, then suspected possible murder. He lives to face the consequences - his future is unhinged, as he navigates the repercussions of a tainted identity, in the courtroom and outside. His cricketing community is conflicted between support for their player and reasonable doubt.
Given the national interest in cricket, media channels are covering the story. Reaction posted online by readers and subscribers ranged from shock and supportive sympathy to insensitive disrespect. The couple’s age, ethnic and cultural differences were triggers for online flaming. Representatives from both families appealed to the public for due privacy and respect. A news media platform responded by engaging content moderation on related articles – band aid on a weeping wound of trauma for the affected families.
This story unfolded outside of cricket boundaries. Within cricket, in SA and major cricketing countries, social media presents issues for players and their entourage.
Common sense is clearly uncommon on social media - there are no social media norms. Online toxicity is growing. For media companies and social media platforms, clickbait earns profits. Online trolls agitate for attention. News makers feel psychological pain. It continues, until the next story. Nothing gets done.
Is this a story about cricket – no. Yet cricket frames the narrative. Why – sport has a wide following, gets and keeps people talking, reacting and participating through display of loyal support or combative competition, seldom neutral. It starts with school and university/college sports.
Sport is fuelled by Passion. Passion burns like a magical flame from inside every one of us. It plays out through our words, choices, decisions and actions. It feeds that contagious chemistry in the stadiums, animates the couch-fan’s body language when watching on telly and rolls the banter on livestreams. It makes us feel alive inside.
In its extreme form, passion triggers, inflames, scorches and harms irreparably. Think of the wars in our world today – an extreme outcome of competition. What does it trigger when you think Ukraine, Russia, Israel, Gaza, Palestine, Iran, Jews, Arabs, Americans…? Words trigger a reaction. That reaction is influenced by perception. That perception is informed by visuals, narratives, experiences and sensory stimuli. Words, actions, judgements, decisions, beliefs are expressed. No laws, rules or codes can regulate passion – it’s an intense human emotion. Where passion leads thought and action, facts tend to become sidelined, side-stepped or distorted because of its binary nature. In sport, one team must lose for the other to win – passionate fans can become extreme. Social media algorithms feed on it - passion compels action and re-action. Every user/subscriber will respond differently, depending on who they are, their identity and their view of the world. Language has a significant influence on interpretation of tone and factual context – most social media platforms are built on English but accessed by a globally spread base of multilingual users.
I am busy with MPhil research exploring online abuse in digitalised sport, focussing on responsible social media governance and fair play. My leading question: Is Online Harms an issue is sport? If so, why is it an issue and what is being done? Is online harm eroding the overall enjoyment of sport - that pure “love” of “the game”, its stories and “feel good” magic? Or is sport online extending the boundaries of Fair Play so far, that no hawk eye can arbitrate its conduct? I am nudging international sports federations for primary evidence, with slow progress as federations grapple with the topic.
Research suggests that elite athletes, ethnically diverse athletes and females in sport are primary targets for online abuse – racism and sexism are pervasive. A growing sports betting culture is fuelling online hate and hate crime, threatening to harm elite athletes, referees and college athletes in major leagues and during major sporting tournaments. E-sports has the downside of cyberbullying, victimising its young participants. Football in the UK has been long invested in detecting, monitoring and responding to online abuse incidents, in collaboration with law enforcement agencies and leading sports broadcasters. Other federations have responded tactically – World Athletics, International Cricket Council, International Tennis Federation and World Rugby have invested AI technology to monitor incidents during major sporting tournaments including Paris 2024, 2024 Women's T20 World Cup, 2023 Rugby World Cup and 2024 Wimbledon. Strategic response plans and consequence management are generally lacking. Federations are aware of the long-term risks - toxic sport will deter participation and public interest. Safeguarding requires an upgrade, with due priority. This issue is complex. So what now?
The future of sports hinges on technology. The future of Fair Play, hinges on responsible deployment of technology. The enablers are future-fit sports governance and agile strategy. The challenge is the short-boundary jurisdiction of sport – it can only regulate what happens in the field of play although it is followed on screen, in print and online by billions. Every user of a cellphone, tablet or laptop is a node – to read, post, react and comment on every feed, every second, 24/365. The context and landscape of online harm is complex and intangible – thus the conundrum around effective mitigation of online harm.
At the 2000 Laureas World Sports Awards Madiba said, “Sport has the power to change the world”. In South Africa, the Springbok rugby teams apply it, closely followed by the Proteas cricketers. What if sport used its positive power to change our toxic social media world?
“Sports has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they can understand. It can create hope where there was once only despair. It is more powerful than governments in breaking down racial barriers…” – Nelson Mandela.
Federations interested in participating in the research can contact Roshni Gajjar via the website or email: admin@stratastute.co.za.