Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the governing body for world motor sport and the federation for mobility organisations globally, has officially welcomed the International Federation of American Football to its United Against Online Abuse coalition.
FIA President and founder of UAOA campaign, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, was pleased to host IFAF President Pierre Trochet during the FIA Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix weekend, where the two leaders participated in a signing ceremony to formalise the American Football Federation’s support for the FIA-led UAOA initiative. Symbolically the signing took place at the Hard Rock Stadium, home to the Miami Dolphins.
“It is a great pleasure to welcome IFAF to the United Against Online Abuse coalition,” said Mohammed Ben Sulayem, President of the FIA and Founder of UAOA. “Representing one of the largest sports in the world, we look forward to our collaboration as they share their experiences and we align on best practices to tackle online harm across the global sporting environment.
“UAOA’s continued growth and ongoing support from governments and sporting organisations like IFAF, demonstrates the vital importance of collaboration in addressing this issue. The FIA is proud to lead this united effort to promote respect, safety, and inclusion throughout the sporting world.”
During their meeting, the Presidents of the FIA and IFAF discussed the global growth of American Football, particularly ahead of flag football’s historic inclusion in the 2028 Olympic Games, a sport now played by more than 20 million people across 100 countries. As part of their new partnership, IFAF has committed to collaborating with the UAOA coalition by sharing best practices for addressing online harm in sport, actively participating in UAOA’s international conferences and events, and utilising the campaign’s educational resources to strengthen digital resilience among athletes, officials, and the wider American Football community.
“IFAF is delighted to join the UAOA coalition and support this crucially important global campaign established by the FIA,” said IFAF President Pierre Trochet. “Online harm has no place in American Football, and we look forward to working the UAOA coalition to develop the strategies and resources required to maintain a healthy sporting environment for all.”
The UAOA coalition of sporting federations represents millions of competitors, thousands of officials, and billions of fans. UAOA’s Barometer 2025 report showed that 89% of federations agree that sport’s governing bodies are under increasing pressure to protect athletes from social media abuse, and 72% of respondents support a collaborative, coalition-led approach to tackling online abuse. This new partnership with IFAF furthers will strengthen UAOA’s global reach, enhancing cross-sport collaboration and accelerating the development of coordinated strategies to protect athletes, officials, sport journalists and fans from harm.
The FIA’s UAOA campaign is a research-led coalition supported by the FIA Foundation. Founded in 2023 the campaign has witnessed rapid growth in recent months and was recently awarded Peace and Sport’s prestigious Coalition for Peace award in recognition of its world-leading efforts building a formidable campaign driving meaningful change.
To date, the UAOA coalition has welcomed endorsements from the Governments of Greece, France, Slovenia, Albania, Australia, Kenya, Costa Rica, Namibia, Rwanda and Georgia, alongside organisations such as ARISF who represent one million athletes, sports federations including FIM that has over 50 World Championships, the International Esports Federation, ASETEK SimSports, Peace and Sport Monaco, UNESCO, the Council of Europe, Clark Hill LLP, Arwen.AI and Dublin City University.
