After the A-League and Professional Footballers Australia struck a collaboration with safeguarding platform GoBubble, football teams in Australia will employ artificial intelligence to prevent internet abuse, according to Reuters.

Using GoBubble's technology, all social media channels across the league, including those belonging to individual players, will be protected from inappropriate language.

"Football has a unique power to connect people from all walks of life, and we want the A-Leagues to be the most welcoming and safe place at every level - in our online communities and in real life," stated A-League CEO Danny Townsend.

Townsend said that "there is no place for online abuse in our game, and this move is part of our duty of care to players and our fans," adding that "GoBubble Community's technology shields anyone who follows player, club and league accounts from seeing harmful abuse and keeps our communities safe."

The automated system, which was established last year and was trialed by A-League clubs in February, would utilize machine-learning software to monitor social media accounts in order to identify and address online abuse.

Josh Hope, a former Melbourne Victory player, retired from the sport in 2020 at the age of 22 after experiencing anxiety as a result of internet harassment from fans.