Lina Silnes, partner of Norwegian striker Alexander Sørloth, decided to take legal action after receiving offensive messages via her email and social media platforms.
In the wake of Norway's national team exiting the World Cup quarter-finals at the hands of England, Lina Silnes was forced to break her silence via her Instagram account to respond to the wave of hatred targeting her partner and national team player Alexander Sørloth.
Silnes, who has more than 40,000 followers, posted samples of the offensive messages she received via the "story" feature, which included: "Please commit suicide, you idiot!" and "Tell your boyfriend to leave Norway and jump off a cliff!"
Silnes, mother of Sørloth's two children, commented on the incident, saying according to the Norwegian website "tv2": "The World Cup brings a lot of joy, but it also brings with it a great deal of hatred".
She added: "I did not want to give these comments any attention, but after messages of this level, silence became impossible."
She pointed out: "I hope everyone thinks carefully before writing such comments, regardless of the circumstances."
For his part, Ståle Solbakken, the coach of the Norwegian national team, strongly condemned this campaign, describing what happened as "tragic," adding: "This is the reality we live in today".
He continued: "That is why I advise young players to stay as far away as possible from social media."
It is worth noting that Sørloth started in all of Norway's matches in the World Cup except the match against France, and was substituted during the loss to England, and the striker failed to score any goal during the tournament.
