SportAccord 2024 - combating online abuse ‘chance for sport to show its power’

Online abuse - which has reached a record high in sport and society - is set for the SportAccord spotlight in just 21 days, when global experts come together under the ‘Power of Sport’ theme.

Join us at this inspiring SportAccord session dedicated to the ground-breaking steps being taken to combat online abuse at Plenary Conference (Day 4 - Thursday, 11 April).

AI-powered - abusers out in the open

Join Jonathan Hirshler, CEO of data science company Signify Group, whose AI-powered Threat Matrix monitoring system is helping sports organisations around the world to detect, analyse and tackle online abuse:

“We will look at the state-of-play of online abuse in sport, share insights and learnings from some of the biggest events on the planet, and show how technology, sports bodies and law enforcement are working together to create a safer online environment for athletes, officials and fans,” explained Hirshler.

‘Next-level abuse’ - no longer tolerated

Meet the ‘Whose Responsibility Is It?’ panel - moderated by David Eades - on stamping out rising online abuse received by players, officials and sports fans.

Wayne Barnes - world rugby’s most accomplished referee - made global headlines after retiring following the 2023 World Cup Final due to ‘next-level’ online abuse. Now, as Partner in the Government Investigations & White Collar Practice of Squire Patton Boggs - and an accomplished criminal barrister and trial advocate, with more than two decades of experience conducting complex, internal and corporate investigations across multiple jurisdictions - he brings a unique perspective to SportAccord 2024:

“Arsène Wenger famously said that ‘We have gone from a vertical society to a horizontal society, where everybody has an opinion about every decision you make’ - and though social media has given individuals the platform to have an opinion, it has also given individuals direct access to people they don’t know and may never meet.

“That, along with a cloak of anonymity and the belief that there will be no consequences for what we say and do online, has led to a dramatic growth in online abuse over the past decade.

“We often see sport lead the way and watch society follow. Society is crying out for someone to say no longer will we accept the abhorrent abuse that has spawned out of social media. At SportAccord 2024, this could be a chance for sport to show how powerful it can be.”

Barnes and Hirshler are joined by Sarah Gregorius - Director of Global Policy & Strategic Relations for Women’s Football at FIFPRO, Sanjay Bhandari - Chair of Kick It Out and Janie Frampton OBE - Vice President of International Federation for Sports Officials. 

“2024 is likely to be the worst year ever for online hate, abuse and misinformation,” said Bhandari. “It is more important than ever that sports work together, using the power of our collective voice, to hold social media, governments and regulators to account and to change the normalised culture of casual online hate."

“As an outcome of this panel, I hope when faced with any form of abuse in sport, we have the tools and skills required to deal with every eventuality,” underlined Frampton.

SportAccord 2024 - join world’s leading sports industry experts

Meet renowned global experts in sport, industry and academia and join over 1,500 delegates and exhibitors at SportAccord World Sport & Business Summit on 7-11 April at the award-winning International Convention Centre (ICC) in Birmingham - West Midlands.

Register now:  https://register.event-works.com/sportaccord/birmingham2024/e/ce/

Partners

The SportAccord World Sport & Business Summit 2024 is supported by a number of strong partners and suppliers:

Gold Partner: Sport Event Denmark

Silver Partners: EventScotland, Explore Edmonton, Tourism & Events Queensland

Bronze Partner: Sport Liverpool , Sports Authority Thailand

Official Suppliers: DB Schenker, Wiz-Team

About SportAccord World Sport & Business Summit 

The SportAccord World Sport & Business Summit brings together around 1,500 leaders and key decision makers from over 120 International Federations (IFs), the International Olympic Committee, and organisations involved in the business of sport. 

The Summit provides an unrivalled platform enabling global business leaders and host cities to have access to all the International Federations and their stakeholders in one location over several days. 

This unique event is a combination of official sports meetings, networking gatherings, a themed conference programme, and exhibition space enabling International Federations, industry, cities and regions to showcase and advance their sport, services and facilities. 

About SPORTACCORD

SportAccord is a sports event organisation based in the Olympic Capital, Lausanne, Switzerland, and governed by stakeholders representing the Olympic and non-Olympic International Federations.  

It brings together International Federations and organisations involved in the business of sport with the aim to serve, promote and protect the common interests of its stakeholders, help them achieve their global objectives and facilitate knowledge-sharing.

SportAccord’s stakeholders include:

ASOIF (Association of Summer Olympic International Federations)

WOF (Winter Olympic Federations)

ARISF (Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations)

AIMS (Alliance of Independent Recognised Members of Sport)

Visit SportAccord.sport for more information.

About Yutang Sports

As one of SportAccord's Principal Media Partners, Yutang Sports is a Chinese leading sports marketing and media platform, with an ultimate mission to connect China and world through sports. After years of growing, Yutang Sports, with a comprehensive media and marketing promotion system, is now dedicating to reporting sports business and marketing trends, providing sports business news, analysis, and exclusive data reports in both Chinese and English. Having been cooperated with top-level domestic and international sports summits, Yutang Sports is opening a window for Chinese sports industry to embrace the world.