Combating Online Abuse in Sports

Online abuse in sports has emerged as a significant issue worldwide, adversely impacting athletes, teams, officials, and sporting communities, from a personal and management perspective. However, existing literature has primarily focused on a limited subset of this issue—particularly hate speech—leaving other critical forms of abuse largely ignored. This open access edited volume addresses this gap by providing a comprehensive overview of the broader spectrum of online abuse in sports, covering the seven categories outlined in Kurt Thomas’ work: toxic content, content leakage, overloading, false reporting, impersonation, surveillance, and lockout and control. Each chapter will delve into the definitions and types of abuse within that category and conduct a scoping review of existing literature, including an examination of language, geographic, and sports-specific contexts, key themes, research methods, and relevant theories. Strategic management and digital innovation theory are employed in the exploration of technical and creative solutions that can be adopted by those employed in the management and pastoral care of sport professionals. By highlighting overlooked areas of abuse, this book offers a holistic view of the landscape and provides critical analysis and recommendations for future research and interventions. It aims to equip scholars and students of sports management, sports sociology and digital strategy with the knowledge and tools to combat the full spectrum of online abuse in the sporting world. It provides practical information and a thorough overview and will also be of significant interest to practitioners and policymakers in this arena.