To protect them as well as coaches and referees from cyberbullying, the ANJ and LFP have embarked on a video campaign whose message is underscored by the hashtag #ParierSansClasher, which roughly translates to “betting without clashing” in English.
Ultimately, this campaign is targeted at aggrieved bettors, which the ANJ claims “regularly” level attacks at football players on social media, blaming them for lost bets.
“Many sports people, including professional football players, are regularly attacked by bettors on social networks, accusing them of being behind sports bets that they have lost,” stated the ANJ.
“These behaviours often reflect an erroneous vision of sports betting, perceived then as a game of pure expertise relating to sporting events devoid of hazards. They also illustrate the risk of seeing the issue of sports betting supplant the sporting issues themselves.”
To raise awareness of this problem, the ANJ and LFP produced a 33-second film, which through “absurdity and visual shock” emphasises “the central values of respect and fair play.”
The video features a 3D-rendered football match, but the animated players are invisible, only their kits can be seen. In the background, a voice can be heard giving commentary, but rather than describing the game in footballing terms, everything is framed from a betting perspective.
ANJ explained this “reminds us that there is always a human behind the jersey and that insults uttered online behind a screen have real consequences for players, coaches and referees.”
