European football governing body Uefa will join English football’s weekend boycott of social media in a show of solidarity against online abuse.
The initiative, jointly announced last weekend by the FA, Premier League, EFL, FA Women’s Super League, FA Women’s Championship, PFA, LMA, PGMOL, Kick It Out and the FSA, will see platforms remain silent from 3pm BST on Friday until 11.59pm on Monday.
Uefa’s involvement follows that of the Rugby Football Union, Rugby Football League, the English Cricket Board, the Lawn Tennis Association and The Professional Darts Corporation and Professional Darts Players’ Association.
The campaign has also received backing from broadcasters BT Sport, Sky Sports, Amazon Prime and talkSPORT.
Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin said action needed to be taken after a rise in online abuse and hate directed at footballers and those involved with the game.
"There have been abuses both on the pitch and on social media. This is unacceptable and needs to be stopped, with the help of the public and legislative authorities and the social media giants," he said in a statement.
"Allowing a culture of hatred to grow with impunity is dangerous, very dangerous, not only for football, but for society as a whole. We've had enough of these cowards who hide behind their anonymity to spew out their noxious ideologies."
