In the last couple of years, 14 players turned to APPI to report social media abuse. The union has organised four meetings between a player and the person who abused them, and in three cases the union went to the police.
Michel said: "Players are used to abusive messages and mostly don’t react to them. However, they cannot accept threats, racist abuse or insults to their family. When this occurs, they report it to us.
"We enquire whether players would like to meet the abusers, but when they have no desire to meet them, we will go directly to the police to report the case. We have established good communication with the police, which has made the process of reporting a lot easier."
APPI prefers to mediate between the players and abusers first, before going to the police. "The players who were involved in these meetings reacted positively and find these interactions helpful. They think it will raise awareness among football fans that harassment via social media violates criminal law in our country."
According to Michel it is difficult to prove whether their approach has decreased the amount of abuse directed at players on social media: "Every time we post about a case on our social media channels, though, we receive a lot of positive comments from other fans and players.
"Once the police detain someone for making abusive comments, then we expect people will think twice before posting abusive comments."
