The ATP, in collaboration with Tennis Data Innovations (TDI) and Sportradar, has launched Safe Sport, a new service aimed at addressing online abuse targeting professional tennis players. This groundbreaking initiative integrates Artificial Intelligence (AI) moderation, education, and investigation into a single service to protect athletes.
Starting this month, the service will be available on a free and opt-in basis to the Top 250 ATP singles players and the Top 50-ranked doubles players. Utilizing AI technologies from Sportradar and its partner, Arwen AI, Safe Sport will scan players’ social media channels for toxic and abusive comments, spam, and bots across 29 languages. The system will automatically hide flagged comments in real-time, shielding players and their followers from offensive content.
Arwen currently processes 600,000 comments daily, protecting over 750 million followers globally across platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), YouTube, and TikTok. Sportradar's intelligence analysts will investigate threats and potential criminal comments, linking online activity to real-world consequences. Additionally, players will receive an educational program on handling abuse, mitigating online risks, and maintaining integrity on social media platforms.
Safe Sport represents ATP’s most comprehensive initiative to combat online abuse, which is a significant issue in sport and crucial for player wellbeing.
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 critical issue for modern athletes. This collaboration ensures that tennis is playing its part in tackling this issue and highlighting the effects of harmful online discourse 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, commented, “Online abuse has become a significant issue for many professional athletes. Safe Sport is a game changer developed specifically to address this problem.”
Andreas Krannich, Executive Vice President of Sportradar Integrity Services, added, “This partnership is groundbreaking in sport, 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.”
A multi-year partnership between TDI and Sportradar began at the start of 2024, providing the sports technology company with global data and streaming rights for betting and media data rights for all ATP Tour and ATP Challenger Tour events. Additionally, Sportradar supplies Integrity Services to safeguard these competitions against betting-related match-fixing and corruption, including monitoring and addressing integrity threats and risks through due diligence and investigation support.