We.Protect.Football - an investigations firm for professional football.

Threatened online?
More than monitoring: investigation.

A screenshot is not a case. We turn it into one - with investigative experience from police and intelligence service.
We investigate and detect
Hate & threats Defamation Fraud & deception Extortion attempts
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New from the start of the 26/27 season
The Matchday Radar
Every week after the matchday: what is running online against players, referees and clubs. Analysed anonymously, reported without names - with an early-warning radar.
Bundesliga 2. Bundesliga 3. Liga Women's Bundesliga
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Vetted & listed BDSF senior member DGuSV Verified expert 2026
Latest
MatchdayBundesliga 2: the fixtures of the next matchday
MatchdayLiga 3: the fixtures of the next matchday
MatchdayWomen's Bundesliga: the fixtures of the next matchday
RadarThe Matchday Radar launches with the season opener: the situation picture after every matchday - sign up free of charge.
InsightNATO StratCom study: for 279 euros, manipulation services deliver 1,400 comments - 92% are still online four weeks later.
Who we work for

Professional footballers. Coaches & referees. Player agents & clubs.

We work for the people in professional football who are publicly exposed every day - and for those who carry responsibility for them. Player agents and agencies, clubs, associations, players, referees.

Methodical social media monitoring · In-depth OSINT analysis
Handover-ready for law enforcement
The difference

The gap between the internet and law enforcement. We close it.

We do not want to be the police. We prepare cases so that law enforcement can act in the first place - thorough, documented, handover-ready.

Any software can collect data. The bottleneck is the analysis.

Perhaps you already filter comments with an AI-powered tool. Good - that layer is always part of our work, and it can even be left out if you have it covered. Our real work begins afterwards: assessing, connecting, investigating.

Reality 01

16 state police forces. Plus the federal level.

Policing in Germany is federal. Different laws, different staffing, different technical capabilities, different capacity - depending on the state and the local office.

Reality 02

Scarce staffing for online cases

The assumption that the police will automatically investigate everything because the law exists is a fallacy. Specialists for anonymous accounts, OSINT cross-connections and escalation patterns are rare - and overstretched.

Reality 03

Developments go unwatched

Authorities respond to criminal complaints - they do not preventively watch how situations develop online. Escalations, changes in pattern, precursor and follow-up activity stay invisible until it is too late.

Between an online incident and an official case file lies a gap - one that neither your own lawyer nor the police can close with their own means. Handing over a thoroughly investigated, properly prepared case can significantly improve the prospects.

What happens after a threat?
Without We.Protect.Football.
✕You must contact the police office yourself
✕Online investigators stretched thin
✕Account deleted - trail gone
✕Unfamiliar with official language - the case fizzles out
✕Connections are never established
With We.Protect.Football.
✓Continuous monitoring · prompt notification
✓In-depth OSINT investigation runs in parallel
✓Handover to the authorities · follow-up delivery of further leads
✓We speak the language of the authorities - handover-ready for you or your (media) lawyer
✓A robust basis the authorities can work with

GDPR-compliant, documented, with a human in the loop. More on confidentiality →

Florian Sprengel - Founder of We.Protect.Football.
Florian Sprengel - Founder
Founder & Expert

Some things need to be done. Not said.

One lesson from 14 years of investigative work: the most effective steps are the ones that neither the environment nor the perpetrator ever learns about.
Sometimes what you don't see is what counts.

We.Protect.Football. deliberately remains boutique: a small, specialised unit with selected mandates. Follower counts, ratings, testimonials: you will not be able to measure us by these yardsticks. Mandates like ours depend on never becoming public. Measure us in conversation.

Co-Founder · Methodological Assurance
Dr. Elisabeth Sprengel
Research · Data validation. Responsible for the methodological preparation.
Verified profile
Florian Sprengel
Lead Security Intelligence & Investigations · 10 years police & domestic intelligence · Expert assessor for white-collar crime
View profile →
Background
Former police officer · Former domestic intelligence service · NASDAQ corporate security
Officially security-vetted in 2016 under - Germany's highest security clearance level
Methodology
Expert assessor for
White-collar crime · Security investigations in professional football · Security consulting & threat prevention in professional sport
Football from the inside
Formerly licensed FIFA Player Agent

For authorities to step in and for your existing media lawyers to act successfully, it takes secured traces.

▸You focus on your success - we focus on those who want to disrupt it◂

Much of your daily routine is already handled by others. The same should apply to what is running online against you or your players - we make it tangible and handover-ready.

Player Agents & Players

Professional footballers · women & men

Bundesliga, 2. Bundesliga, 3. Liga, Women's Bundesliga. Daily threats, hate, extortion DMs. Without professional case preparation, proceedings run into the sand - and the perpetrator carries on.

For player agents & clients →
Referees & Coaches

Referees & coaches

One controversial decision - and the threats reach family and home address. Referee representatives and coaching staffs have less PR protection, but the same risk.

For representatives & associations →
Clubs & Associations

Clubs & officials

Board members, sporting directors, press officers, security officers - threatened by organised defamation and external threat situations. Plus a duty of care documented to a recognised standard (DIN SPEC 14027).

For clubs & organisations →

A threat becomes a case file. A case file becomes proceedings.

@ Social Media
Relevant for investigation
Re-enacted, anonymised examples based on typical case patterns.
Cross-connections

Three accounts. One person.

Click the dots: Through stylometry, reverse image search and activity patterns, we often find a trace leading to the person behind seemingly anonymous profiles.

Monitoring · Sample timeline

The match is decided - and the hate stream tips.

Hate posts at peak 297 / hour 14× the daily average
3:30 pm kick-off 5:02 pm own goal 73rd minute +3 h +6 h
Monitoring · Sample comparison

Gut feeling is not evidence. Data is.

Without monitoring
?
  • Scattered screenshots, no full picture
  • Most of it goes unnoticed
  • Hours of reading, no robust analysis
"It feels like a lot is coming in right now - no idea how much exactly."
With monitoring
Mentions captured12,847
Negative sentiment4,213
Hate-related387
Criminally relevant47
Recurring accounts11
Corporate membership · 1530 Intelligence KG Member of the German Association of Data Protection Officers (BvD) e.V. Member of the German Association of Data Protection Officers (BvD) e. V.
Personal expert assessor qualification · Florian Sprengel
BDSF senior member DGuSV certified expert assessor Verified expert 2026
Our conviction

Protection against threats, hate and targeted defamation - even when the perpetrator hides behind seemingly anonymous accounts. We recognise patterns, find traces, reconstruct connections.

  • For professional footballers, women and men
  • For agents and player agencies
  • For clubs and associations
From digital trace to physical security.

If you want to defend yourself, you need experts who read traces and recognise patterns. We do not perform IT forensics on hardware - we conduct proactive operational intelligence (OSINT). We identify aggressors, uncover fraudulent acts and secure traceable chains of evidence online.

Yet the line between a digital threat and physical danger is thin. Real security does not end at the screen. Whether it is someone scouting out your home or anonymous letters in your mailbox: we put the puzzle pieces together. We interlink digital intelligence with physical security assessment and deliver a coherent, cleanly documented overall picture for lawyers and authorities.

Against anonymous accounts, a screenshot is not enough. We investigate cross-connections and deliver:

The right information at the right time to the right place.

So that a criminal complaint becomes an investigation.

We do not promise to deliver solid findings on every perpetrator - no one can seriously claim that. What we do promise: all traces are brought together, as far as open sources allow, so that prosecutors and police can put the case on the right track immediately. And in the proceedings it becomes visible that you did not treat your digital security as an afterthought.

Talk in confidence
Standards & Compliance
DIN SPEC 14027
Structured research to a documented standard
ISO 18788
Processes aligned with the standard
GDPR · BDSG
Data minimisation & documented deletion concepts
Tresorit · PGP
Secure data room & PGP
NDA · DPA
Contractually secured (NDA & DPA)

Behind every mandate stands a concrete situation.

Whether professional, club or player agent - everything begins with a passion for the game. Visibility opens up a lot: income, reach, a brand of your own. But it also makes you vulnerable - to hate, threats and targeted defamation.

Why professional football is different

One click deletes or blocks the account. Not the crime.

Anyone in professional football does not have one channel through which people can reach them. They have dozens - visible and invisible. That is exactly what makes the threat architecture of this field unique.

Via the environment

More than their own account

Whoever wants to reach a player does not need their DMs. They comment under the weekend match report, write under club posts, or go through the accounts of partners, siblings, parents. Families have profiles of their own - and they belong in the protection picture.

Via direct contact

A direct line - for the wrong people too

Social media is not just a channel for hate. It is a direct line of communication to players - fascinating for fans, and equally for people with other intentions. A harmless DM can be the start of a long-term manipulation strategy. Recognisable only if you can read the patterns.

In everyday offline life

Normal life, amplified

Players lead normal daily lives - training, shopping, taking the kids to school, meeting friends at a restaurant. Fame makes that daily life predictable. Anyone who knows routines, neighbourhoods or favourite places holds a blueprint to a private life. Openings arise not from incidents, but from predictability.

What we do

What we do.

Block 01

Recognising the connection

300 comments are not 300 people. We identify whether a wave is genuine - or a campaign.

Block 02

Securing evidence

With timestamps and chain of custody - before it gets deleted.

Block 03

Running the case

From alert to handover: prepared for legal departments, law firms or authorities.

Our method →
Contact

Let us talk.

Confidential. Open-ended. One call clarifies whether we are the right fit for you. If not, we will tell you.

Talk in confidence →
We.Protect.Football.
When it comes to precautions for your security - and to what you have put in place:
Sometimes what counts is what you cannot see.
1530 Intelligence
We.Protect.Football.
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