Wife Arsenal player Kai Havertz shared offensive messages she received on social media after Arsenal’s defeat Manchester United In FA Cup on Sunday.
On Monday, Sophia Havertz shared two posts on her Instagram Story, including one in which someone threatened to “kill” her unborn child.
Arsenal were eliminated from the cup after losing on penalties to holders United. Germany striker Havertz missed a match-winning chance at the Emirates Stadium, scoring from close range and then saving a penalty in the shootout.
Sophia Havertz expressed her outrage at the violence she suffered after the match.
“That someone would think it’s okay to write something like that is shocking to me… I hope you feel ashamed of yourself,” she wrote.
In response to the threat against her child, she wrote: “I’m not sure what to even say, but please be more respectful. We are better than this…”
Football authorities and police tried to counteract online abuse against players.
The English Football Association said last year it had provided funding of around £25,000 ($32,000) to help police deal with incidents at the stadium European Championships.
At the previous Euros in 2021 England players Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford AND Jadon Sancho were subjected to racist attacks on social media after missing penalties in a shootout loss to the team Italy in the final.
World governing body FIFA has created a social media protection service that it says will protect players, teams and officials from online abuse by protecting their social media channels from hate.
SMPS says that during the 2023 Women’s World Cup, 20% of players received discriminatory, offensive or threatening messages, around half of which were anti-gay, sexual or sexist in nature.
