13 August 2023 , 10:01
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Premier League side Everton have issued a strongly-worded statement condemning "all forms of personal abuse" following the treatment of striker Neal Maupay over the weekend.
French striker Maupay led the line on Saturday as Sean Dyche's side began their season with a defeat at home to Fulham. Following the reverse, though, the former Brighton man was greeted with abuse on social media and shared a screenshot on his Twitter account.
Everton have made it clear in no uncertain terms that they won't stand for such behaviour. Fulham have stood by their opponents as well, issuing a statement of their own.
"Everton Football Club condemns all forms of personal abuse directed towards our players and their families or any Club staff on social media," Everton's statement read. "We stand firmly against such behaviour and are investigating the social media accounts that have targeted Neal Maupay.
"We also encourage anyone using these platforms to report, condemn and highlight any such abuse to the social media platforms on which it appears. Discrimination and hate has no place in our game."
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Fulham echoed their rivals, saying: "Discriminatory and abusive behaviour of any kind will never be welcome at Fulham Football Club. We stand with Neal Maupay and support Everton’s message to report, condemn and highlight such abuse."
Maupay's involvement against Fulham came as part of a squad including few changes from that which narrowly escaped the drop last season. Ashley Young was the only new signing in Dyche's starting line-up, with Arnaut Danjuma coming off the bench during the second half.
Everton had chances to go in front, only for visiting goalkeeper Bernd Leno to keep them at bay. In the end, a Bobby Decordova-Reid effort proved the difference, giving Marco Silva's side victory at Goodison Park for the second straight season.
"Sometimes football can be incredibly frustrating and it certainly was today, because I don't believe we deserved to get nothing from the game," Everton boss Dyche said after the defeat. "I thought we were a strong side today, the performance was strong on so many levels, particularly with the chances we created.
"I know when I got here there was a lot of noise on creating chances and scoring, of course. We managed to change it enough to get the job done last season and we've built in pre-season.
"I thought there were good signs of that - playing, counter-playing, being on the front foot, getting bodies in the box and finding quality and we did those things but we didn't finish off the key moments, he added. "That's the biggest frustration, along with the referee's decision [to disallow a Michael Keane goal for the hosts], which is a bizarre one to me."