Film: Neal Maupay

Transcript

[Neal Maupay] Unfortunately, I have.

So, I've been subject to some abuse on social media, and some of them were racist. So, that's why I went to the Premier League to make a statement, because like I said, it's not OK.  We need to fight it.

So I think, it is important to show the people that if you say something bad, something racist, there will be consequences and you will have to face your actions.

That hurts, I mean that hurts because when you are someone coming from different areas, different country, my dad is French, my mum is Argentinian. I grew up in an environment with a lot of different people.

I never thought about racism. It's not only abuse, it's racism, this is really, like a crime for me.

I straight away wanted to do something, because for me, it wasn't right from the start.

I knew what they were doing was bad, even dangerous. Because it is dangerous, to think like that.

And the support I had from my club and the Premier League, have been massive.

Straight away we have reported online, all those abusers.

And those people, I believe will face the consequences of their act.

I think, when you are subject to abuse you have to screenshot it, first of all. To have a picture of it.

Then you have to report it, to block the person and then you have to go and speak to an adult.

If you don't know what to do, speak to someone, show the proof.

People are not born racist. I think they become racist with the way they are educated.

So it is really important to, from the start, to teach them and show them that we are all similar.

We are altogether, we are all one.

No matter your religion, no matter your colour, no matter where you come from, no matter anything, we're all the same.

When you abuse someone, you can really hurt that person. And that can affect him as a person, his family, his friends.

Abuse doesn't have to be physical. If you tell someone bad things every day it will start to feel bad.

And some bad memories can last for the rest of your life.

So we need to be careful with the words we are using, with the way we speak to each other.

We just need to understand that we are all the same and I think this is the most important.

Don't think you are above someone, we are all equal on earth.

Not really, because I don't think the person who is subject to online abusers or racism abuse, has to feel guilty.

They are the victim. So it's not the victim who has to leave social media. It is the person responsible for the abuse.

I think we are making progress. The Premier League is taking online abuse, really seriously.

It is really important that the Premier League is looking after their players.

And I think that shows the players, that they are looking after them.

But, they are also show the fans, the football fans, even outside of football, that racism or abuse is not OK, and we are fighting to get rid of all these problems.

We just need to keep going and keep fighting.