courtesy news.yahoo.in
A man in Singapore has been found guilty of sending online abuse to Brighton forward Neal Maupay. Premier League’s online abuse system helped to track down the individual after Maupay received threatening and abusive messages from him via Instagram.
Premier League said that Derek Ng De Ren was convicted of crimes related to harassment following an investigation and formal criminal complaint filed by the Premier League last August, the legal team undertook a detailed investigation to successfully identify and locate the offender. The league subsequently worked with Neal, the club and the local authorities in Singapore to pursue legal actions against the defendant, resulting in his prosecution and conviction.
Maupay welcomed the decision and said that he would like to thank the club and premier league for the support they showed in this matter and the professionalism in dealing with, as well as the police and courts in Singapore. The amount of toxic abuse which I was receiving is a daily occurrence for many professional athletes and public figures and this action shows those people that it is totally unacceptable and that the authorities are prepared to take the necessary actions.
Premier League launched an online abuse reporting system for players, managers and their families in June 2020 so that they can report when they receive discriminatory abuse on social media. There has been a sudden rise in these types of cases and this action will certainly make some positive impact among the players and others related to them.