Explained: Tennis’ plan to work with betting companies to reduce abuse of female players

Online abuse directed towards athletes has become a major problem in sport with the advent of social networking platforms such as Facebook, YouTube and X (formerly Twitter) in the 2000s. And the issue becomes even more concerning when it’s female athletes who are targeted by faceless trolls on social media.

The sport of tennis isn’t any different, where British star Katie Boulter has admitted to receiving death threats and explicit pictures from trolls, where a report published recently by Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and the International Tennis Federation (ITF) revealed that 458 players had been targeted last year.

The report used an AI-led detection system developed by the Signify Group which found that frustrated gamblers accounted for nearly half (40 per cent) of the social media abuse, which rose to 77 per cent when it came to abuse directed towards the personal accounts of players.

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A worrying 26 per cent of that abuse were directed towards five female players, the report added.

Tennis chiefs approach gambling firms in order to tackle online abuse

As many as 15 of the worst offenders have been reported to police and other law enforcement agencies, according to The Guardian, and they have also been banned from buying tickets for the four Grand Slams as well as for ATP and WTA tour events.

The spotlight, however, has fallen on betting companies and their reluctance to take action against punters venting their frustrations on social media, often at the expense of a player’s mental well-being.

According to the British publication, the WTA and ITF have intensified their talks gambling companies have deepened since the report was published by the two tennis organisations, urging them to fund educational campaigns in addition to taking stern action.

The talks have been met with a degree of success, with some betting organisations are willing to take action against accounts belonging to those guilty of social media abuse.

For instance, FanDuel – US-based gambling company that is WTA’s official gaming partner in the United States – has altered its terms and conditions earlier this week which gives them the right to suspend accounts found guilty of harassing athletes, with the definition of harassment also getting broadened.

“We may, in our sole discretion, suspend or terminate your Account and/or exclude you from our services if we determine that you pose a threat to the safety of participants in a sporting event, or discover that you engaged in the harassment of a sports official, coach or any participant in a sporting event,” read a statement from FanDuel in an email to its users.

“The report has brought about a constructive conversation with the betting industry. We will continue to push for the industry to do more as part of a collective effort to rid tennis of betting-related abuse. We hope the gambling industry responds constructively to our call for more action on their par,” a spokesperson for WTA and ITF said.

British star Boulter opens up on online abuse 

British No 2 Boulter, for one, had revealed to the BBC that many of the abusive messages that she receives on social media appear contained references to gambling.

“Go to hell, I lost money my mother sent me,” was one of the messages received by Boulter after she had lost the first-set tie-breaker in her opening round-tie against Carole Monnet at the French Open.

“At the very start of my career, it’s probably something I took very personally… getting comments about the way you look,” Boulter told BBC.

“It becomes more apparent every single time you go on your phone.

“I think it increases in number and it also increases in the level of things that people say. I don’t think there’s anything off the cards now,” she added.