Liverpool have brought in mental health specialist, Ishbel Staker, for the purpose of protecting young players and ensuring that they are ‘prepared’ for the realities of social media.
This comes from the Daily Mail (via This Is Anfield), with concerns raised over the culture of online media and patterns of abuse.
“The club is very keen to make sure the young players who are coming through, or just breaking into the first team, are prepared for what can come their way online,” a source revealed to the publication.
“Trolling for some footballers has been as bad as it ever has been in the last 12 months and most young players are locked into social media.
“The new mental health consultant is giving young players the chance to talk about the abuse they get and get bespoke advice on how they can cope with that.”
It’s understood that the Merseysiders are the first English top-flight club to address this issue by bringing such a professional on board.
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Whilst we must applaud the club for acting on the matter, such a course of action must invite questions around why drastic measures are necessary.
To be more clear on the matter: how will social media platforms look to support sides like Liverpool and players going being forced to endure horrific abuse?
Given this is hardly an issue endemic to football or sport as a whole, it couldn’t be more abundantly clear that such organisations’ current efforts are failing miserably to tackle online offenders.
Otherwise, we wouldn’t have felt it was necessary to make such an appointment.