Why Do People Get So Mean About Sports Online?

During the 2025 Women’s Euro Cup final, the England women’s soccer team won the championship. But instead of only getting praise, they also received thousands of hateful messages online. The fans are getting too crazy on these messages, and here is why. A report found over 3,000 hurtful posts, including racist and sexist comments. Most of these posts were never removed. One young player, Michelle Agyemang, got a lot of hate—even though she played well and helped her team win.

Sports make people feel strong emotions. Fans love their teams and want them to win. When things don’t go their way, they can get upset. On social media, people feel like they can say anything—even things they would never say face-to-face. Some fans take it too far and write cruel, unfair, or dangerous things about players.

Sadly, this happens more to women’s teams. When male players get hate, it’s usually about the game. But female players often get attacked for being women, and sometimes because of their religion or age. In this tournament, Michelle Agyemang, who is only 19, received the most hate. Another player, Jess Carter, left social media after being bullied online.

Social media companies also need to do better. Even though social media is a good way to talk about sports, sometimes fans get too crazy because they might not like the players of the team. Another reason for these hateful messages might be because of their religion or race of the players. Since people are in an online space, they could say anything they wanted and get away with it without consequence. They could also get really defensive of their team‘s loss or win. They should remove hateful messages more quickly. Right now, most of the bad posts are still online.

Fans also need to think before they post. It’s fine to be excited or disappointed during a game, but it’s never okay to be mean or hateful to others.