Mathys Tel has opened up about being subject to racist abuse on social media after Tottenham’s UEFA Super Cup final.
The Frenchman did not have the best of outings in Udine against PSG, with his poor night being capped off by a penalty miss as the Parisians emerged victorious in the shootout.
Tel came in for plenty of criticism on the back of his performance against PSG, but some comments crossed the line, with the Tottenham man being on the end of racist abuse.
Mathys Tel’s Spurs teammates came out in his support publicly following the abuse, and the 20-year-old has now revealed what impact those comments had on him.
Mathys Tel reveals how he reacts to racist abuse after Tottenham penalty miss
The Spurs fans also came to Tel’s support in large numbers and the youngster has now explained what he thought about the abhorrent comments directed at him.
The Tottenham Hotspur star revealed that he was not overly shocked, as this was not the first time in his career he had been subject to such vile comments.
He suggested that the social media companies need to play a more active role in combating this scourge of people abusing online under the protection of anonymity.
When asked how he felt when targeted with racist abuse, Tel told The Telegraph: “I was not very shocked, but these types of bad comments still hurt you. It was the same at Bayern Munich after a game on social media. That’s why, today, I just try to protect myself – don’t read, don’t listen, just be focused on what I do. Work, work, work every day.
“I think the social media companies need to do more because social media is very open. So if I want to be a bad guy, I just need to create an account with another name, and I can say a lot of bad things. It’s too easy to be disrespectful to a lot of people. So, yeah, just try to protect us, protect the kids, protect everybody because nobody deserves that.”
Tel opens up on his tough upbringing
The forward admitted that his resilience comes from his tough childhood in Sarcelles, where he had no option but to keep fighting.
Tel admitted that those experiences have held him in good stead in his efforts to cope with the ups and downs of a career at the highest level of the game.
The Tottenham forward added: “I was born in the ghetto, Sarcelles, so the mentality is very, very strong. Every situation that I’ve faced until now has helped me to become better, to be a better person, better player. If you want to be a great player, a great person, your mentality needs to be great and very strong.
“I don’t go [to Sarcelles] anymore. But when I was there, the mentality was don’t let anybody beat you. If you play football, if you fight in the street, it doesn’t matter anywhere. Just don’t let anybody put your head down. That’s why I’m thinking like that. I don’t let anybody put my head down. If I don’t have success, I will come back again.
“Was it difficult [growing up there]? I would say 50-50. Difficult because it’s always about challenging yourself. You are going to go this way, people don’t like you. You are going to go the other way, people like you. But it might not be the right way. So you don’t really know where you need to go. That’s why my family was always behind me because if you don’t have your family behind you, it’s going to be very, very difficult.”