Kellyn Acosta is relishing playing at his first World Cup.
The pinnacle for a player, the World Cup offers enormous opportunities – but it also brings enormous scrutiny.
Under an intense spotlight, players are often subject to relentless and horrendous online abuse.
“As players, we’re human beings. What we do as athletes is our profession, but it’s not who we are as people,” said Acosta, a midfielder for the Stars and Stripes. “When you say things that are inhumane, it’s very hurtful and sometimes it’s in the back of our heads.
“When you make a mistake, which is part of the game, you know you’re going to get abused for it, which is tough and it’s hard to find that balance.
“You try to ignore what people are saying because at the end of the day we want to perform to the best of our abilities, please our fans and play good football in the end.”
To tackle discrimination and to protect the mental health and well-being of players, FIFA and FIFPRO launched a social media protection service (SMPS) ahead of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
Through SMPS, all players from the 32 participating member associations at the World Cup have access to a dedicated monitoring, reporting and moderation service designed to minimise visibility of hate speech aimed at them on social media and, therefore, protecting both players and their fans from online abuse during the tournament.
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