The creators of a revolutionary phone app are in talks with leading European football clubs and numerous sporting governing bodies about combating hate crime.
The Final Whistle app, created by businessmen David Frazier and Ricky Kundi in conjunction with the charity Stop Hate UK, offers a hi-tech way to record and report every type of hate crime and discrimination in all forms of sport.
They are speaking to Serie A clubs in Italy and other leagues in various sports throughout Europe as the battle against hate crime gathers pace, particularly in football.
Newcastle manager Steve Bruce has received online death threats and Eddie Nketiah, Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Lauren James and Reece James – Lauren’s brother – are among footballers recently targeted by racist abuse on social media.
Abuse inside grounds has also been on the rise in recent seasons while Arsenal chief executive Vinai Venkatesham has described social media abuse to black players as the “biggest problem” in football and says its impact “cannot be underestimated”.
Speaking at the Financial Times’ Business of Football summit this week, Venkatesham said: “We have to take this opportunity as a wake-up call. Unfortunately, we are getting to a point where this type of abuse that a black footballer is getting is becoming increasingly normalised.
“It is 2021 and football, the players, and social media companies need to come together to solve this.”
Frazier told i: “Our combined mission is to help people report, combat and end hate crime in all sport and the wider community in the UK, Europe, America and Australia. Initially these are our main areas of focus.
“After more than 10 years working with Stop Hate UK, we created a hate crime reporting app for both the West Yorkshire and Surrey Police areas and are about to launch apps for several other regions.
“Significantly, the Final Whistle app is a self-contained reporting system for all sport, allowing people to capture either photo, video or audio and report hate crime anonymously, whether a witness or a victim. This can be done to capture and record abuse in grounds and online.”
The app is supported by 24/7/365 phone and live chat from Stop Hate UK and can also integrate into any current club app to aid the reporting process.
Kundi said: “It’s not just about reporting and capturing evidence of hate crime, but also taking action against the offender and support for the victim.”
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/2ZtWwea
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