Yeovil Town defender Mark Little has called on the Government and social media activities to do more to identify online abusers.
The 32-year-old, who arrived at Huish Park this summer following his release by Bristol Rovers, was a victim of racial abuse on social media whilst playing for The Gas earlier this year.
He was speaking out after England players Bukayo Saka, Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford were subjected to sickening abuse after missing penalties for their country in a shoot-out defeat in the Euro 2020 final against to Italy.
Speaking to ITV Westcountry, Little said: “I have tough skin and I have been going through it for a while so I can deal with it now but my little boy is two years old and he doesn’t have that yet and I don’t want him to go through it in the future.
“I don’t want him to grow a tough skin, he shouldn’t have to do that and no children should have to.
“I don’t understand why the social media companies don’t do the identification.”
He admitted hearing the experiences of the international stars following the shoot-out defeat brought back his own feelings of “anger and confusion” from the abuse he suffered.
The former Bristol City and Bolton Wanderers player was subjected to racial abuse on his Instagram account following a match for Bristol Rovers and called then for social media companies to do more to identify abusers.
He added: “I am absolutely devastated for (Saka, Sancho and Rashford) because the amount of pride and the praise they should be experiencing at the moment. It is such a massive achievement and it should be a huge celebration.
“How they brought the country together after a terrible couple of years should be cherished and they should be feeling the benefits of that but they aren’t going to be are they?”