Danish Players Banned From Twitter N' Co During Euro 2012-Harsh?

Discussion started by Marc Sibbons , on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 13:57

Another Twitter storm has arisen in the world of football. This time it has been revealed that the Danish football federation (DBU) has said its players will not be allowed to send updates through social media during the European Championship in June.

Denmark goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen has called it "a shame" that players cannot tell fans what they do "without revealing tactics".

A DBU spokesman said on Tuesday that the coach Morten Olsen wants players to focus on the tournament and for "the 24-7 open microphone" to be shut down.

It was also revealed that the squad will send numerous updates to fans via the team's own social media sites beside the regular press conferences.

The sports minister Uffe Elbaek said it was the DBU's decision but noted that his first thought was that it may be "a violation of the freedom of speech".

Do you agree that this decision by the DBU is violating the Danish player's freedom of speech? Or do you believe the DBU's somewhat 'harsh' decision is the correct approach to entering a major tournament? What are the dangers of players using personal social media sites during important tournaments? Should England adopt the same tactics to dispel any distractions?

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Marc Sibbons,

Update: Cardiff City instructed their players before their play-off semi final with West Ham that they were not permitted to use Twitter/Facebook until after their second leg.

Is this unfair on the Cardiff City players? Can something be done to limit freedom of speech on twitter for sports stars? Is this hard-line stance beginning to trend among football clubs involved in major games/tournaments?

411 days ago

Rick Eyre,

I don't think this is a "freedom of speech" issue any more or less than with any other employer restricting employee discussion of workplace matters. Are we coming to expect too much openness of communication with the rise of Twitter, Facebook et al?

It's a nice ideal to think that all football players could be directly accessible throughout Euro 2012, but their first priority is after all to be elite football players and not highly-skilled public relations officers. I think the DBU is on the right track by channelling all contact through the team accounts - at least for the duration of the tournament. Other teams may think differently, but it will all depend on the resources they want to put into media/PR management.

419 days ago

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