Defender on how she coped with last season’s trolling, feeling harshly treated by officials and wanting to become a referee
“If I turn off my phone, they don’t exist,” the West Ham defender Hawa Cissoko says of the racist online trolls who have bombarded her social media accounts. That is her solution, to switch off and ignore, but she thinks social media companies need to do more to protect players from racist abuse. “I know that some people send messages because they know that nothing is going to happen even if you tell them you’re going to the police,” she says. “They know nothing will happen. We need more security … I don’t know how they can do it.”
On 15 October last year, Cissoko clashed with Aston Villa’s Sarah Mayling, there was pushing between the pair and Cissoko struck Mayling across the face. She was sent off and Mayling received a yellow card. Cissoko apologised, saying there was “no excuse”, and was given a two-match ban and £200 fine by the Football Association. On social media she was bombarded with abuse, including racist abuse.
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