Derek Ng De Renis, who was pleaded guilty to sending death threats to Brighton’s striker Neal Maupay, after he scored the winning goal against Arsenal last June and was given a penalty of ‘two years in prison or pay a fine of £10,000.’
What actually happened?
Derek Ng De Renis is a 19-year old Singaporean man, who is also a big Arsenal fan, and last June when Arsenal lost against Brighton in a Premier League match, he couldn’t contain his anger as the winning goal also involved a hard challenge against the Gunners goalkeeper Brend Leno as he was then taken off the game in a stretcher.
He let his anger know to Brighton’s striker Neal Maupay, who apparently scored the winning goal as he wrote abuses and also death threats to him by direct messaging him on Instagram.
Brighton, as a club, couldn’t tolerate this abuse and reported the same to the Premier League’s online abuse reporting system. Then, the League along with the Brighton club started their search for the identity of the person that sent the death threats through Instagram. With the help of Singapore authorities, they traced the 19-year old and caught him. Now, Derek is set to be sentenced on July 7.
What do Maupay and PL authorities have to say about the incident?
Maupay said in a statement on Brighton’s website saying that, “I would like to thank the club and Premier League for the support they showed me in this matter, and the professionalism in dealing with it, as well as the police and courts in Singapore.” He then continued his statement by saying; “The vile and toxic abuse of which I was on the receiving end is a daily occurrence for many professional athletes and public figures and I hope this goes some way to showing those online trolls that it is totally unacceptable and that the authorities are prepared to take the necessary action.”
Richard Masters, Premier League’s Chief Executive also had his say on the case. He said; “The online abuse Neal received was appalling and nobody should have to deal with such threatening messages. We are committed to supporting players, managers, and their families and will continue to work with relevant authorities to fight online hate.”
We at Arsenalcore stand strictly against online abuse and any kind of racism – we ask you to as well!
