FDJ wants to help victims of cyber bullies in France

Legalizing sports betting has yielded many dividends. It has also led to some uncalled-for consequences. One of those is cyberbullying, or over-zealous fans who attack and assail the personality of athletes and blame them for the sports wagers they have placed, and the subsequent loss of those stakes.

Now, some are trying to change this and educate people. The French national lottery operator, Française des Jeux (FDJ) has announced a fresh collaboration with the French Tennis Federation (FFT) as the two companies attempt to stop this practice from ever taking place again and crucially offer support to people who need it.

Using popular social media language, "#SmashTheHaters" is a campaign designed to first raise awareness about the issue and reinforce the concept of respect in sports. Athletes should not be targeted by irate fans and those who do target sports fans and bully them should bear the consequences of their actions.

FDJ will promote the campaign through its sports betting brand, ParionsSports en ligne, which has a prominent profile in the country’s gambling market and is a popular champion of responsible gambling. The campaign will seek to remind sports fans that they must show athletes respect and not resort to stalking and online harassment of a player who may have "underperformed."

ParionsSport took to Twitter and posted a 30-second video on its social media account in which it blasted "haters" and said that placing a wager on an athlete meant that the person should respect them and how they play. Then, it said that for every retweet it would donate $5 to the hotline dedicated to victims of cyberbullying in France.

The FDJ shared in the push and retweeted the news, asking more people to join in spreading the message. There are some 3,018 victims of cyberbullying in France, the company said. A support line is a helpful tool that makes sure that those who need assistance can receive it and the ParionsSports campaign is a further strategy to spread this message.

While online bullying should be taken in stride by professional athletes, some individuals have become persistent in delivering obscenities to athletes. Ranging from death threats to constant insults on social media, many athletes well beyond France have found themselves the target of unhinged sports fans.

National Football League quarterback Mark Sanchez was among the numerous victims of online bullying. David Akers, another NFL kicker, has said that the situation got so bad that he simply ended up quitting Twitter rather than having any more of it.

The legalization of sports betting has certainly led to more people becoming infuriated by their bad decisions or mistaking the concept of sports betting, which is purely for entertainment purposes only. Regardless, real people are being impacted by those cyber bullies and FDJ is doing well to try and fight this.

Image credit: ANJ