Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka suffer worst abuse in Europe

Bukayo Saka and Marcus Rashford received the most racist attacks on social media at recent international finals - with a majority coming from home fans, a new study by Fifa has found.

The report does not name the Arsenal and Manchester United forwards, but sources confirmed research proved they suffered the most discriminatory attacks. The most detailed research into online abuse across Euro 2020 and the African Cup of Nations lays bare the torrent of toxic comments that players are targeted with.  Fifa and Fifpro, the players' union, have now promised to launch new moderation tools to better protect players and improve educational support.

The independent report, published by Fifa to coincide with the UN's International Day for Countering Hate Speech, studied 406,987 comments on Twitter and Instagram before an after the finals. It found:

In response, Fifa and Fifpro said they will launch a "dedicated in-tournament moderation service across men’s and women’s football that will scan recognised hate speech terms published to identified social media accounts". "Although the offending message remains visible to the person who originally made the comment, its visibility and reach will be significantly reduced," the governing bodies added.

Fifa President Gianni Infantino expressed concern over the most detailed assessment of social media abuse in international football. “Our duty is to protect football, and that starts with the players who bring so much joy and happiness to all of us by their exploits on the field of play,” he said  “Unfortunately, there is a trend developing where a percentage of posts on social media channels directed towards players, coaches, match officials and the teams themselves is not acceptable, and