Midfielder Willian, currently at Fulham, in England, spoke again about the threats he suffered while he was still a player for the Corinthians to the FIFA website on account of Tolerance Day. The organization will implement a social media protection service to ensure the well-being and mental health of players during the World Cup in Qatar.
“It’s difficult because sometimes you don’t even want to play anymore. Because, for example, I would go (play) and I kept thinking ‘if I play a bad game, they’ll come after me again, my family’. So sometimes the players don’t even want to play, because we’re there to do our best, but it might not be a good day, it’s normal and that affects our performance on the field”, said the Brazilian in a video published by the entity’s Twitter.
“We are afraid to do something on the field, because if you do something wrong or not very well, they can come after you and your family after the game”, he added.
“Sometimes you don’t want to play any more…”
On #ToleranceDay🇧🇷 @willianborges88 talk about the pain of receiving abuse on social media: pic.twitter.com/OyQebRvAim
— FIFA.com (@FIFAcom) November 16, 2022
From August 2021 to August 2022, almost a year in this second passage, Willian played 45 games (9 last season and 36 this year), with only one goal scored. The goal was a penalty, against São Bernardo, still for Paulistão. He still has four assists in 2022.
The current season was also marked by two other negative points: injuries and off-field threats. Willian had to deal with a problem in his right shoulder (he still uses protection there) and tendinitis in his thigh.
Threats were already suffered in the first half, when on two occasions he had to go to the police station and open police reports, which caused fear in the player’s family and pressured the midfielder to take this action. Goalkeeper Cássio also went through the same problem.
FIFA’s initiative
To combat discrimination and protect the mental health and well-being of players, FIFA and FIFAPRO are launching a Social Media Protection Service (SMPS) ahead of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™.
Through the SMPS, all players from the 32 associations participating in the FIFA World Cup will have access to a dedicated monitoring, reporting and moderation service, designed to minimize the visibility of hate speech directed at them on social media and therefore protect players and their fans from online insults during the tournament.
“FIFA is committed to providing the best possible conditions for players to perform at a high level. At the Qatar World Cup, we are pleased to launch a service that will help protect players from the harmful effects that social media posts social services can have on their mental health and well-being,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
Source: Gazetaesportiva
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