Borussia Dortmund are part of the newly founded project “Wer hetzt, verliert!” (The haters are the real losers!). All DFL clubs in the Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga from North Rhine-Westphalia and the Central Contact Office for Cybercrime in North Rhine-Westphalia (ZAC NRW) have set themselves the goal of combating criminal hatred and discrimination on the Internet with greater vigour in the future.

Sport lives off emotion. But where enthusiasm turns into criminal hatred, clear limits must be set. Top athletes are regularly in the media spotlight and are particularly at risk. Even on social media, everyone still has to comply with the rules of social interactions. Anyone who breaks these rules must expect to face the consequences. The DFL clubs in the Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga from North Rhine-Westphalia and the ZAC NRW have therefore agreed to work together to tackle criminal hatred in the project “Wer hetzt, verliert!”. If players, managers or directors of a club are attacked in the digital world, these facts can be reported to ZAC NRW in a timely manner without red tape as part of the project work. The aim is the consistent prosecution of criminal hateful comments.

In a first phase, ZAC NRW is conducting training and further education for the social media teams of the clubs on how to distinguish criminal hatred from simple expression of opinion. If the line is crossed and posts become criminal, they will be reported online via a completely digital system. The experts at ZAC NRW will check the reports to see if they are criminally relevant, initiate investigation proceedings and work with their police partners to identify the people behind the comments.

No red card, no missed penalty and no mistake leading to a goal justifies hateful comments on the Internet. By participating in the digital project “Wer hetzt, verliert!”, Borussia Dortmund are reaffirming their stance against all forms of discrimination and, in partnership with all DFL clubs from NRW, can rely on a powerful tool in the fight against criminal statements on the net.