Image copyright PA Image caption Lukaku says he was shocked by the comments made about a teenage girl by social media CEO Anthony Di Benedetto
Belgian football star Romelu Lukaku has called for football players and social media executives to “meeting to draw more attention to mental health”.
Lukaku made the comments on Twitter after a woman reported social media CEO Anthony Di Benedetto to police for comments he made about a teenage girl.
After a football match between his club Manchester United and Liverpool, Lukaku’s former club Everton’s Di Benedetto tweeted: “Put this little girl on fire.”
Di Benedetto resigned after controversy.
Lukaku – who is in his third season with United after a summer move from Everton – tweeted: “Like in so many other industries, social media has its share of male power and intimidation.
“To take a man’s sayings, actions and actions and turn them into reality, you have to dehumanise the human. This is no way to treat other human beings.
“How many of you CEOs and social media bosses think about the damage being done with these words? You could be the new Jimmy Savile.”
Lukaku follows a Twitter account devoted to him, which is run by another player.
Image copyright REX/Shutterstock Image caption Lukaku recently joined up with fellow Belgian Christian Benteke and Virgil van Dijk of Southampton to create United’s Under-23s squad
Di Benedetto, a 39-year-old former professional tennis player, said on Facebook that he “was shocked by what had happened on my social media.
“I neither threatened nor harassed anybody and like so many people have been affected by depression,” he added.
At least two people, believed to be the victim’s brother and boyfriend, contacted police.
England striker Lukaku previously described mental health problems as the “greatest vulnerability in football”.
The 24-year-old, who signed a new four-year deal with United in May, said: “I won’t be talking about it at the moment because I don’t want to feed this culture of worrying about and searching for problems.
“That’s exactly what I want to stop – to worry about things and not be scared to speak out.
“No player, no coach, no club, no player association – we need to do everything we can to stand together and bring awareness to mental health.”
@SocialMediaDawg
Reporter of the Year in 2015 @vittbhiê $750,000 – social media entrepreneur @AnthonyDiBenedetto
This is an isolated and isolated incident. Remain hopeful not everyone is reading https://t.co/42zpccp31H — Anthony Di Benedetto (@AnthonyDiBenedetto) August 27, 2018
Image copyright Anthony Di Benedetto Image caption Anthony Di Benedetto resigned after controversy