Premier League clubs are said to be considering a unified boycott of social media over a weekend before the end of the season.
The move comes after Tottenham’s forward Son Heung-min became the latest player to suffer racist abuse after a match against Manchester United on Sunday. He is far from the only Premier League star to focus on either, with United’s Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Axel Tuanzebe, as well as Wilfried Zaha, Crystal Palace, also reporting abuse.
Son was racist abused this weekend | CLIVE ROSE / Getty Images
There is a growing belief that in order to shock social media companies into action, a blankout blackout of all updates is required. Championship Swansea City recently announced that they would not be posting on any social media platforms in seven days, with staff and players at Rangers following suit shortly after.
According to the Daily Mail, a potential boycott would likely begin on Friday at 5pm and run all the way until 9am the following Monday.
There are some potential barriers to the plans. The majority of Premier League clubs have lucrative commercial deals in place that are dependent on social media. Breaking these contracts can seriously damage revenue at a time when money is already tight due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Steve Cooper describes the reasons for our club-wide boycott of social media.
Over to you, social media companies … pic.twitter.com/frQ8gpvEhR
– Swansea City AFC (@SwansOfficial) April 8, 2021
Despite these problems, it is perceived that there is a growing confidence that the boycott will continue before the end of the season. However, the best flying clubs are keen to form a united front, as they did with the Players Together Covid-19 help systems.
“What we do not want is a situation where some clubs have their own boycott while others do not,” said a source at a club.
“This is pretty much all or nothing. If each club decided to make a ban at the same time – and if it was around the same round of matches – it would have the greatest possible effect.”
