The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) has announced a groundbreaking collaboration with the University of Notre Dame to address the escalating issue of online abuse in sports. This partnership aims to create a safer and more inclusive digital environment for athletes, teams, and fans worldwide. The initiative will focus on understanding the causes, impacts, and prevention of online harassment, with a particular emphasis on the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in both perpetuating and mitigating harmful content. The project will also explore how online abuse intersects with identity, mental health, and regulatory responses within sports federations. FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem, speaking at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, highlighted the importance of this collaboration, stating, ‘Our joint goal is to foster a safer inclusive online environment for athletes, teams, and fans worldwide.’ The University of Notre Dame has also signed the United Against Online Abuse (UAOA) Charter, becoming the eighth academic institution to join this global coalition. The UAOA campaign, supported by the FIA Foundation, has seen significant growth and was recently honored with the Coalition for Peace award by Peace and Sport. This expansion into the United States is particularly significant given the country’s prominent sports culture, where leagues like the NFL, NBA, and MLB attract millions of fans and generate substantial online engagement. The findings from this research will contribute to the UAOA Barometer report, an annual study on online abuse in sport, and will help shape practical policies for safer online spaces in the global sporting community.
Ben Sulayem hails ‘safety for all’ as FIA, US university to combat online abuse in sport
