INFO
TOHIF brings together a rich range of expertise in the battle against online hate in football. These include examples of emerging research into the topic, guides to addressing the problem, support for victims, and other key resources.
TOHIF Newsletter
TOHIF is launching a newsletter to share their latest updates, academic insights, and special reports on tackling online hate in football. The project has gathered and analysed Twitter data from 2008 – 2022, centring on the men’s and women’s UEFA European Championships during that time, in order to understand the evolution of online hate in football. The newsletter will showcase key learnings on this issue and upcoming relevant events,
Sign up here
‘Let the tournament for the Woke begin!’
Euro 2020 and the Reproduction of
Cultural Marxist Conspiracies in Online Criticisms of the ‘Take the Knee’
Protest
This paper, published by TOHIF, examines how alt- and far-right conspiracies were both constructed and communicated
via Twitter in discussions of the England team’s ‘take the knee’ protest during UEFA Euro 2020. The findings reveal how,
in criticisms levelled at both ‘wokeism’ and the Black Lives Matter movement, antiwhite criticisms of the ‘take the knee’ protest were embroiled in alt-right conspiracies that exposed an assumed Cultural Marxist, ‘woke agenda’ in the tournament’s
organization and mainstream media coverage.
A Scoping Review of Research on Online Hate and Sport
This paper provides a scoping review into the scholarship of online hate in sport in order to encourage and facilitate further research into this urgent issue. Herein TOHIF offer a comprehensive cataloguing of previously employed methodologies, case studies and conclusions. In doing so, it not only equips future researchers with a concise overview of existing research in the field, but also illuminates areas and approaches in need of further examination.
Media Sport, Women and Ireland
Seeing the wood for the trees
This chapter, by TOHIF member Katie Liston & Mary O’Connor, sets the scene for understanding the increasing use of digital media to counteract the under-representation of sportswomen in mass media. The chapter considers the social and cultural issues relevant to the relationship between mediated sport and women. Attention is also given to the 20 x 20 campaign and on the future challenges associated with cultural change required to challenge conformist voices and reframe mediated discoures around women in sport.
Tackling Social Media
Abuse?
Critically Assessing English Football’s Response to Online Racism
This paper, written by TOHIF member, Dr Kilvington and Dr John Price of the University of Sunderland, critically assesses the response of English football’s institutions, organisations, and clubs to the problem of racism on social media. Its findings are based on interviews with key officials from the Professional Footballers’ Association and Kick It Out and with safeguarding and media officers from football clubs across the English Premier League and English Football League. It concludes there are a number of systematic failings undermining or hindering football’s attempts to address this issue including poor coordination, a lack of clear guidelines, ad hoc educational provision, a shortage of resources, and a culture of secrecy at many clubs. This article concludes with some recommendations about how these weaknesses may start to be improved. Critically Assessing English Football’s Response to Online Racism
