Chelsea Women's Karen Carney "received rape and death threats" after Wednesday's Champions League win over Fiorentina, according to the BBC. She said, "You just don't understand what possesses people to think and actually write those things." After she was threatened on Instagram, "other sports stars have opened up on abuse from social media trolls and how it can be tackled." Sprinter Martyn Rooney said, "It's just such an horrible, appalling thing to say to anybody, it doesn't matter if they're an athlete or not. ... You shouldn't have to face it, in whatever walk of life you're in, and social media gives so many people an opportunity to abuse you for no reason." Rugby player Rachael Burford said, "It's totally unacceptable. Nobody, female, male, athlete or non-athlete, should have to receive something like that when they're just going out to do their best. You have to remember, people are human. Stuff that comes from social media, just because it's from a keyboard warrior who you don't know, is still quite threatening and can be very scary." Swimmer Siobhan-Marie O'Connor said, "I've had a little bit and it really upset me, underneath an article once. I read the comments and it really upset me for a long time and now I just avoid reading the comments" (BBC, 10/19). REUTERS' Martyn Herman reported the FA said on Thursday that it was "seriously concerned" about abuse of players on social media. It said in a statement, "The FA takes such matters extremely seriously. The abuse of players on social networking sites is a serious concern and we call on the police and social media organisations to do everything they can to help tackle this growing problem" (REUTERS, 10/18).
