FIFA players banned from social media during the games

June 15 2010, 9:29am

The FIFA World Cup games in South Africa have officially begun and fans are glued to their TV’s, computers or mobile devices to continuously be updated as to scores and opinions of the game - however what you won’t see a lot of is comments from the players themselves. Teams from Spain, Brazil, Mexico, Holland, Germany, Argentina and England have all be forbidden from Tweeting, poking, buzzing and checking in as they compete against one another for the cup. Coaches have banned social media services in a similar fashion to that of alcohol or sex, and some have even put a curfew on regular or non-social Internet use during the evening and before games. Similar bans have been enacted over the past few years during the American football season and basketball season. Players have been prohibited from using social media prior to, during or directly after a game. As well, players have also been disallowed from having someone else post an update or tweet on their behalf. As the FIFA World Cup will certainly be one of this month’s major trending topics and cup-related hashtags fill people’s feeds, millions of people around the world will be looking to the web to remain updated on the matches and look to their favourite players for some insight. Fans will certainly be disappointed with the silence, however the coaches may have a point in regards to focus. What do you think? Should the players have social media freedom during the cup or should they be kept out of the conversation?