Page 15 - aruba-today-20230303

A15
sports Friday 3 March 2023
Motorsport and others joining to fight online abuse

By JEROME PUGMIRE AP Two-time F1 champion Fer-
Auto Racing Writer nando Alonso has several
Motorsport's governing times called for social net-
body will attempt to drive works to do more to curb
out online hate speech online abuse. He was asked
and abuse by collaborat- about the issue, if there had
ing with other affected been improvements in the
groups. way F1 and the FIA deals
The FIA said it has sup- with it.
port from the European "I think so. I think we are
Commission, motorcyling's getting better as a sport in
governing body, and Pro- many, many areas. I think
fessional Game Match Of- on this topic, there is al-
ficials Limited — the body ways never enough," the
responsible for match offi- Aston Martin driver said at
cials in English professional the Bahrain GP. "But I think
soccer — to tackle the we have a good leader-
problems. ship right now. And we are
The FIA revealed its strate- in good hands. So I think we
gic approach in a white are moving in the right di-
paper on Thursday that rection."
"sets out the sustained and The FIA's online abuse work-
collaborative approach Associated Press ing group has secured
the FIA will adopt in con- support for its strategic ap-
fronting online toxicity," it ened, the white paper said. London. sun. And there were death proach from the European
said in a statement. Seven-time Formula One Latifi's crash led to a safety threats. People saying Commission through an
The document called "A champion Lewis Hamilton, car, and late drama fol- they were going to come endorsement from Mari-
Strategic Response To On- who is the only Black driver lowed as Verstappen over- after me and my family," ya Gabriel, the European
line Hate Speech In Sport" in F1, has been the victim of took Hamilton on the last Masi said in an interview Commissioner for Innova-
has drawn on expertise online abuse. lap to win the world title in with Australia's NewsCorp tion, Research, Culture, Ed-
from industry experts and Mercedes, the FIA and F1 one of the most controver- in July. "And they kept on ucation and Youth.
government institutions. It in 2021 issued a joint state- sial moments in F1 history. coming. Not just on my PGMOL managing director
was presented to the FIA's ment condemning the rac- Hamilton urged social me- Facebook but also on my Mike Riley, a former Premier
241 member clubs and also ist abuse aimed at Hamil- dia companies to do more LinkedIn, which is supposed League referee, welcomed
shared at a World Motor ton following the Mercedes to stop the spread of online to be a professional plat- the FIA actions.
Sport Council in Bahrain on driver's crash with rival Max abuse after Latifi's abuse. form for business. It was the "PGMOL is hugely sup-
Thursday ahead of the sea- Verstappen on the open- Former F1 race director Mi- same type of abuse." portive of the progressive
son-opening Formula One ing lap of the British Grand chael Masi, who made the Last year, Hamilton said F1 steps taken by the FIA in
race on Sunday. Prix. After crashing late in decision to restart the race should push away archaic addressing the issue of on-
Across the European Union, the season-ending Abu and eventually left the FIA, "old voices" and focus on line abuse," Riley said. "Dur-
80% of people surveyed Dhabi GP in 2021, F1 driver also faced a torrent of ha- becoming more inclusive, ing recent discussions, we
had encountered online Nicholas Latifi was subject- tred and abuse. after comments made by have together identified
hate, and 40% of respon- ed to online abuse and "They were shocking. Rac- three-time F1 champion that common challenges
dents claimed they were death threats and hired a ist, abusive, vile, they called Nelson Piquet referring to are shared around the
left frightened or threat- bodyguard on a day trip to me every name under the Hamilton by a racial term. abuse of our officials."q

Djokovic to face Medvedev in Dubai semis, Rublev gets Zverev

DUBAI, United Arab Emir- hoping for my best shape Rublev advanced by de-
ates (AP) — Top-ranked No- tomorrow because that's feating Botic van de Zan-
vak Djokovic beat Hubert the only way to beat him." dschulp 6-3, 7-6 (3). Zverev
Hurkacz 6-3, 7-5 on Thurs- Djokovic is playing in his topped Lorenzo Sonego
day and will face former first event since winning 7-5, 6-4.
No. 1 Daniil Medvedev in the Australian Open for It will be Zverev's first semifi-
the semifinals at the Dubai his record-equaling 22nd nal since the French Open
Championships. Grand Slam singles title. The last June, when he injured
The five-time Dubai cham- 35-year-old Serb had a par- his right ankle while play-
pion's 20th straight victory tially torn hamstring when ing against Rafael Nadal.
set the stage for a last-four he captured his 10th title at He underwent surgery days
match against Medvedev, Melbourne Park. later to repair torn liga-
who defeated Borna Coric Djokovic improved to 15-0 ments. "It's been a very dif-
6-3, 6-2 in the nightcap at this season and hasn't lost ficult time for me the last, I
the hard-court tournament. since dropping the Paris would say, nine months,"
"I'm playing good right now Masters final to Holger Rune the 25-year-old German,
but when you play Novak, last November. He followed who was the runner-up at Serbia's Novak Djokovic celebrates after he beats Poland's Hu-
bert Hurkacz during their quarter final match of the Dubai Duty
Novak is always the favor- that up by winning the ATP the 2020 U.S. Open, said in Free Tennis Championships in Dubai, United Arab Emirates,
ite," Medvedev said in his Finals title in Turin. his on-court interview. "The Thursday, March 1, 2023.
on-court interview. "He's Defending Dubai champi- hard work is paying off and Associated Press
playing great, moving on Andrey Rublev will face I'm extremely happy with
great. I always had some Alexander Zverev in the what the progress is and Rublev, a 25-year-old Rus- reached the semifinals for
good fights with him, so I'm other semifinal match. how I'm playing right now." sian who is ranked No. 6, the third straight year.q