MONDAY 17 AUGUST, LONDON, UK: Sportradar Integrity Services, the world’s leading supplier of sports integrity solutions, has launched an industry-first solution to support sports organisations in safeguarding professional athletes from social media abuse.

Sportradar’s Intelligence & Investigation Services team, a world leader in providing intelligence and investigation solutions to sporting federations, law enforcement, government agencies, clubs, and anti-doping organisations, has drawn upon advanced techniques, technology and 20 years of experience servicing the sports industry to create a ground-breaking new service that both addresses and protects professional athletes from the growing problem of online abuse.

Available to all sports federations, leagues and governing bodies, the service is designed to protect the mental health and well-being of professional athletes by keeping them free from harm online and providing peace of mind by discouraging future trolling and abuse through successful investigation, proactive intervention and disruption.

The service identifies the individuals behind anonymous ‘troll’ or ‘burner’ accounts used to direct abuse towards athletes. As well as providing a high-level location of the ‘troll’, Sportradar’s team of experts builds a picture of how that individual conducts online abuse. The findings of the investigation are then shared with its partners and further support is provided in pursuing an appropriate course of action, including the removal of abusive accounts from social media platforms and working with law enforcement to bring legal proceedings.