5 Must Read Articles on UEFA Women's 2022 Championship: how the tournament is tackling online abuse, and more!
Although many soccer fans were disappointed by UEFA Women’s EURO in England being postponed due to the pandemic last year, there is no doubt that the turn back has been stronger than ever. With an expected global audience of around 250 million for this year, 31 matches across 10 UK venues in 8 towns and cities in England, more than 500k tickets sold ahead of the tournament, and a UK£54M anticipated economic contribution to the host cities, no wonder why UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 is a record-breaking tournament.
Besides all these astonishing statistics, it is sublime to watch all women athletes playing and racing with peace. A lot has been happening since the beginning of the tournament, from witnessing the biggest wins in Women Euro’s history to ground breaking sponsorship campaigns and UN initiatives. We gathered 5 must read articles on UEFA Women's 2022 for you to stay up to date with the sports world.
Let’s jump right in!
1. Real Scars: UEFA takes action to tackle online abuse
Online abuse is an undeniable problem of our world right now, especially when it comes to sports. With the kick start of #WEURO2022, the sad truth that women footballers face sexist and abusive messages on social media has come to the surface.
In order to highlight the negative effects of online abuse directed at football players, coaches and officials across social media, a new ‘Respect’ programme kicks off at UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 in England, including the “Real Scars’ campaign.
Read More: EE Hope United Campaign TO TACKLE ONLINE SEXIST HATE AHEAD OF UEFA WOMEN’S EURO 2022
2. Women's Euro Sponsor Campaigns: Full Round-Up
Besides watching all women players doing wonders and breaking records at Women’s EURO this year, it is also exciting to see sponsors, partners and brands showcasing their support to improve the sport’s status and grow audiences. The diversity of the audience led to an extensive lineup of brands that have signed up to sponsor this year’s Women’s Euro. In particular, some companies such as Volkswagen AG, Euronics Italia S.p.A. and TikTok are holding campaigns that support women athletes against online hate, bias and stereotypes.
In addition, congratulations to TikTok for winning the Silver Medal for best Euro’s Sponsor’s campaign. Their #SwipeOutHate campaign, aiming to tackle negativity by encouraging the community, was Areto Labs’ favorite. Read the article.
Read More: WSL announces record-breaking deal with BBC and Sky
3. Record-breaking group stage points to the best Women's EURO yet
This year’s UEFA Women’s EURO, being the most attended one in the history, marks its name on many other ‘firsts’. The list is long: Beth Mead has become the first player to score five goals in a group stage while Alexandra Popp, is the first woman to score in all three group matches. We can’t help but mention that the official UEFA Women's EURO 2022 website received over 5.25m visits. Read the article.
4. Women's Euro 2022: Why is Eastern Europe trailing behind in women’s football?
With the quarter-finals of the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 around the corner and people all around the world watching the games every night, one can’t stop but wonder why Central and Eastern Europe is absent from the competition. While ‘more than a third of the national teams qualifying for men’s UEFA Euro 2020 were from Central and Eastern Europe’, Finland is the only and easternmost country in the tournament for women’s. If you are interested in finding out about why the ‘eastern bloc’ is behind in women’s football, read the article.
5. UEFA joins United Nations 'Football for the Goals' initiative as inaugural member
On the first day of UEFA Women’s EURO 2022, the United Nations launched “Football for the Goals”, a UN-led initiative that provides a platform for the global football community to advocate for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This campaign also hopes to achieve behavioral change in the football industry to inspire the game’s global fan-base. It is always great to see a collaboration between the UN and sports organizations 🙌. Read the article.
As Areto Labs, our duty is to ally with women this summer and make the internet a safer space, especially during the UEFA Women’s EUROS 2022. Schedule a demo with us today and see how we ARETO can help you change the discourse of abusive conversations online!