Roman Shirokov: There is a lot of abuse aimed at footballers on Twitter

Zenit St. Petersburg midfielder Roman Shirokov explained why, in his opinion, Russia footballers are reluctant to go on Twitter.

«You became a lot more popular since you registered on Twitter. Are there a lot of abusive fans on the internet?»

«When I first registered there weren’t as many. Now people just create temporary accounts just so they can write something offensive. To be honest, It doesn’t really bother me.»

«Why do Russian footballers generally avoid Twitter?»

«You think that if you receive abusive messages every day, you will really want to go on Twitter? If you are just a regular user, or even a singer, people aren’t as hateful generally. But if, as a footballer, you play one bad game, they will drown you in insults. Though I am sure that people who say those things could hardly kick a ball themselves and aren’t particularly good at their jobs. But they think they can tell others how to play football. Occasionally we get accused of match-fixing as well and the insults start pouring in. Who would like to see that?» the Russia international told Izvestia.