AN ALBION star has opened up about the racist abuse he faced online.
Neal Maupay was the target of serious online abuse earlier this year and reported this to the Premier League.
Investigators tracked the source of the comments to Singapore and have now filed an official police complaint.
The Premier League is liaising with local authorities and will continue to support all subsequent legal action on behalf of the striker.
Maupay discussed his experiences in a candid conversation as part of the No Room For Racism campaign.
The 24-year-old said: "I've been subjected to some abuse on social media, and some of it was racist.
"That's why I went to the Premier League to make a statement.
"Because it's not OK. We need to fight it.
"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.
"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 from my club and the Premier League has been massive.
"Straight away we have reported them online, all those abusers.
"And those people, I believe, will face the consequences of their actions."
In June, the Premier League launched a dedicated online reporting system for players, managers, coaches and family members who receive serious discriminatory online abuse.
"It's not ok. We need to fight it"@OfficialBHAFC forward @nealmaupay18 on reporting racist abuse online#NoRoomForRacism
— Premier League (@premierleague) October 18, 2020
Each case reported through the new system is reviewed, reported to the relevant social media company, investigated and legal action taken where appropriate.
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said: "The abuse Neal received is wholly unacceptable.
"We responded immediately to seek justice on his behalf, which in this case meant identifying the perpetrator, tracking them to where they live, and then pursuing legal action accordingly.
"We take each report provided to us extremely seriously and we will use all possible resources in supporting our players and managers to investigate incidents, regardless of where the offender is located."
The No Room for Racism campaign is encouraging all football fans who witness discrimination to "challenge it, report it, change it".
There’s no room for ignorance, intolerance, hate, injustice, sitting in silence, doing nothing…
— Premier League (@premierleague) October 16, 2020
⦿ Challenge it.
⦿ Report it.
⦿ Change it.
There’s #NoRoomForRacism. Anywhere. pic.twitter.com/ZGaLuwVDnd
The Premier League, Football Association, English Football League, Professional Footballers' Association and Kick it Out have all pledged to support the campaign.
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