The online world is full of opinions, feedback, criticism, and appreciation.
While a football YouTuber was harassed by the online audience for being a female fan, Jules Koundé — the Barcelona defender, took to Twitter to address the issue.
Shérine is an FCB fan who makes digital content about Barcelona.
She recently posted her experience on Twitter highlighting online abuse for being a female football fan.
She shared a link to the hostile messages she had been receiving and wrote (translated into English) –
I had the courage to do it, the video of the quarter of my harassment is online on my YouTube channel: Shérine FCB.
She added –
Know that talking about football while being a woman is totally normal, you will never be alone.
Shérine runs a budding YouTube channel with 12.4k subscribers. Her channel displays a myriad of football emotions for the fans.
She covers everything about Barcelona and football in general. She posted a video on YouTube on 11 February 2023 talking about her life, her undying love for football and how people harassed her for a year and a half just because she’s a woman who loves football.
She seemed emotional throughout the video and cried multiple times talking about her struggle with online networking. She expressed how her siblings and mother had travelled, so she used to stay with her father.
During the lockdown, she had TikTok but she was afraid to use it as a platform to talk about football because she feared harassment.
However, she found Twitter during Messi’s last match and started discovering her passion. In the video, Shérine talked about how football saved her in many ways.
She mentioned she was a people person before the pandemic but the entire period of lockdown was really difficult, especially with her mother (also her best friend) being away. She was cocooned in but her love for football kept her afloat throughout the difficult time.
Despite her experience, she motivated fellow influencers to never give up on their passion.
Shérine’s tweet attracted a lot of attention. The general public and public figures came to her support. Jules Koundé encouraged her by posting –
You are very brave. Keep expressing yourself about what you love and don’t let anything or anyone make you believe that, because you’re a girl, your voice would be less legitimate. Football is for everyone and belongs to no one.
Jules displayed and confirmed in his tweet that he is undoubtedly a champion player because the first rule of any game states that it belongs to none.
Shérine replied with a positive message thanking Jules for his support. She wrote –
Thank you very much, Jules. It’s really nice, I will continue to talk about my passion for this club that we love so much.
Shérine received encouragement from several renowned football players and thousands of football fans.
Another professional (former) football player, Brahim Thiam also supported Shérine and said –
Shérine, I know passionate women who speak and love football maybe more than me and others. Don’t let anyone today or tomorrow break your passions and your dreams. So CONTINUE, you have your place.
