The A-Leagues, along with Professional Footballers Australia (PFA), have announced a world-first partnership with GoBubble Community in an effort to protect A-Leagues clubs and athletes from hateful comments on social media.

The partnership will utilise GoBubble Community’s discrete automated system to monitor for abusive, derogatory, harmful, or offensive language on social media for every A-Leagues club and athlete, and the leagues themselves.

The GoBubble Community software uses machine-learning to monitor social media accounts and can be tailored to the needs of any organisation, according to the creators, after the software was trialled on 25-26 February by A-Leagues and PFA, monitoring the Twitter profiles of Adelaide United, Melbourne Victory, and Central Coast Mariners during the Pride Cup Double Header.

A-Leagues CEO, Danny Townsend, said: “Football has a unique power to connect people from all walks of life, and we want the A-Leagues to be the most welcoming and safe place at every level – in our online communities and in real life.”

“There is no place for online abuse in our game, and this move is part of our duty of care to players and our fans.

“GoBubble Community’s technology shields anyone who follows player, club and league accounts from seeing harmful abuse and keeps our communities safe,” Townsend said.

GoBubble Community founder, Henry Platten, said: “GoBubble Community is proud to be working in partnership with A-Leagues and Professional Footballers Australia, as they make a powerful stand to eradicate online hate and discrimination through the use of our innovative software.”

“The A-Leagues is taking the lead to roll out use of this technology across all clubs, and we now hope to see this approach replicated by sports governing bodies across the globe.

“This powerful step will protect teams, players and communities from online abuse, and promote a positive and supportive virtual experience across their social channels,” Platten said.

After signing up to the eSafety Commission’s Commitment to Online Safety in Sport, eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, said the A-Leagues and PFA are making important steps to keep all Australians safe online.

“These days we often find the cheapest seats in the house are behind a keyboard, with players being subjected to terrible online abuse in the course of doing their jobs,” Grant said.

“Back in November last year we met with some of the biggest sporting codes in the country and pledged to work together to do more to protect players, coaches and support staff from online abuse.

“I think it’s great to see the A-Leagues and PFA making good on this pledge and taking a proactive approach to protecting their athletes.

“eSafety will continue pushing the major tech companies to embed Safety by Design into their platforms so that sporting organisations don’t need to take matters into their own hands to keep their players safe on these platforms,” she said.