An Iwobi Law on Cyberbullying. A call to action for FIFA, CAF, and NFF.
In the world of soccer, as known in the USA, and football as it is known worldwide, nothing is more important to the fans than winning. Emotions run high and amok which can lead to the most unreasonable plus uncontrollable poor choice behaviors if the choice results for most fans are not met.
In the past, we have seen nations on the verge of war, cities divided, friendly communities becoming enemies, and people losing their lives due to football matches.
Following the mishaps that have emanated from football activities, FIFA has introduced lots of safety measures to mitigate these problems. Some of these problems have persisted with new ones cropping up due to major world changes in technology, migration, and the growth of the sports football. Migration and the growth of football have led to more talented players playing their football skills in other countries plus continents.
Iwobi
The transfer of players to other countries led to an increase in racism, match-fixing, bribery, and tribalism. On the other hand, the improvement and increase in the reach of technology, especially the exponential reach in the use of internet services has resulted in the explosion of this new thing called cyberbullying. Twenty years ago, football cyberbullying was not a problem in the football community. Today, it is an emerging problem that will explode to unmanageable levels if not tackled effectively at this time.
Looking at Cyberbullying and some trends noticed with the Iwobi saga. We saw individuals writing negative emotional statements targeting the person “Alex Iwobi”. Some targeted his family and friends with hurtful words plus statements. These cyberbullying acts were seen all over the internet. On places like Instagram, Tik-Tok, Facebook, X formerly called Twitter, YouTube, websites, Blogs, and so many other internet arenas
We also noticed the trend of online celebrities with thousands and millions of followers writing negative emotional statements towards innocent footballers thereby inciting their followers to directly inflame the fires of cyberbullying towards those targeted innocent footballers. The case of Iwobi is a genuine example of this negative behavioral pattern.
Some of the dangers that come with bullying which is assumed to be more dangerous in comparable terms to regular face-to-face bullying include a high level of suicide plus suicidal tendencies, depression, loss of self-confidence, loss of self-esteem plus self-worth, increased withdrawal behaviors with self-isolation, sadness, increase in anxiety levels, anger, grief and loss behaviors with lots of other negative effects that cyberbullying brings up.
Losing an important soccer match like the finals of the African Cup of Nations will itself bring feelings of loss and grief to the losers. Adding the effects of cyberbullying to the emotions of such individuals is like adding more fuel to a burning fire. Emotional distortions and other severe negative effects can set in.
FIFA which is the global football governing body has done a lot to eradicate things like match-fixing, racism, and bribery plus all other negative things affecting the beautiful game of football by placing heavy fines plus closure of stadiums. In most severe cases outright bans from the game are given to defaulting individuals, nations, clubs, and groups.
At this time, nothing has been done by FIFA to stop this ugly growing trend of cyberbullying before severe incidents take place. We don’t wish for that time but laws and examples should be set in precedence as soon as possible to nip this problem in the bud before it becomes a monster. An outright ban of football activities should be placed on football cyber bullies especially those that have thousands or millions of followers whose effects are felt the most. I urge FIFA, CAF, NFF, and the Nigerian legislatures to take immediate action on this emerging problem.
Obi Nnanna Chukwuma Nwabugwu is a Nigerian-American. He is the author of “War Effects”. A practicing Licensed Mental Health Counselor in the states of Texas, Oregon, and Oklahoma in the USA. He is also a contributor at ndiigboworldwide.com plus a director with 12-step Addiction Ltd Owerri Nigeria.
