Sportradar has entered a new deal with Tennis Data Innovations (TDI) and the ATP Tour for the launch of a new initiative to safeguard tennis players.
The new service is called Safe Sport and will be utilised to address online abuse targeting professional athletes through the use of artificial intelligence moderation, education and investigation.
Rolling out this month, the service will be made available to the top 250 ATP singles players and the top 50-ranked doubles players on a free and opt-in basis.
Sportradar will utilise its AI technology in combination with the capabilities of its partner, Arwen AI, to scan players’ social media channels for abuse and spam across a total of 29 languages.
Tennis players will also be offered educational material that covers topics like handling abuse and mitigating online risks on social media platforms.
Andreas Krannich, Executive Vice President, Sportradar Integrity Services, said: “This partnership is groundbreaking in sport as we’re bringing together AI-driven auto-moderation, education and investigative services for the first time.
“The Safe Sport solution offers players better protection from online harm, representing a significant leap forward in safeguarding mental and physical wellbeing, enabling them to concentrate on delivering their best performances.”
TDI and Sportradar first began their collaboration at the start of 2024, with the latter being handed data streaming rights for all ATP Tour and ATP Challenger Tour events.
On the latest Safe Sport initiative, Andrew Azzopardi, ATP Director of Safeguarding, stated: “The ATP is committed to safeguarding players and their wellbeing. This includes taking a proactive stance against online abuse, which has become a very important issue in the lives of modern athletes.
“This collaboration will ensure that tennis is playing its part in tackling this issue, and shining a light on the effects that harmful online discourse can have on our communities.
“We’re grateful for the support of TDI and the expertise of Sportradar in making this happen.”
Matthew Ebden, ATP Player and Player Advisory Council President, added: “Online abuse has become a real issue for so many professional athletes, as it also has for so many others online in general all around the world. Safe Sport is a game changer and has been developed specifically to help fix this problem.”
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