Death threats, cancer wish: the vile abuse angry gamblers aim at tennis players online
Official report says some 40 per cent of online abuse aimed at players comes from bettors who lost money on matches
Angry gamblers were responsible for 40 per cent of abuse directed at tennis players on social media last year and actively targeted athletes via direct messages, a report published on Tuesday found.
The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and the International Tennis Federation (ITF) called on the gambling industry to tackle the issue after conducting the first season-wide report outlining the scale of abuse directed at players online.
Data from Signify Group’s Threat Matrix service found that from January to December 2024, about 8,000 abusive, violent or threatening messages were directed at 458 tennis players via social media.
“Online abuse is unacceptable, and something that no player should have to endure,” Jessica Pegula, a member of the WTA Players’ Council, said.
“It’s time for the gambling industry and social media companies to tackle the problem at its source and act to protect everyone facing these threats.”
Five athletes were subject to more than a quarter of all the abuse, and just 97 prolific accounts were responsible for 23 per cent of all detected abuse.