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Ainsley Maitland-Niles reveals he suffered racist abuse while playing for Arsenal as a 12-year-old

Ainsley Maitland-Niles today revealed his pain at being racially abused in a youth team match aged 12 and praised Raheem Sterling’s courage in stirring the debate over discrimination in football.

The incident took place in Germany and the Arsenal midfielder revealed he told the relevant football authorities at the time but no action was taken.

Sterling spoke out after he appeared to suffer racist insults during Manchester City’s 2-0 defeat against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last weekend – the Blues have suspended four supporters pending an investigation - citing newspaper coverage as one the factors in the rise of such abuse.

Asked whether he’d ever experienced anything similar, Maitland-Niles said: “Yes, I have. Not at a professional level but growing up in the youth ranks.

"I think it's disgusting, honestly. I really do credit Raheem for coming out and standing up for himself and other players and speaking about it. But, I just think that if a lot of football clubs and some of the players too can join forces to really put our heads to it and try to kick it out, it would be the best thing possible.

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“I was at Arsenal at the time. It was an away trip to a German side, I think. It was pretty much similar to what Raheem got to be honest. I literally went out to pick up the ball for a throw-in and there was a bit of racial abuse behind me.

"What can I do? I just got on with the game, as he did. It hurts. It hurts me to talk about it. It hurts to think about it. But I think that's why it's so important that we need to get rid of it from the game. It's not just footballers who need to be on board with it. It's everyone else: the press, the media and the staff as well.

“I did [report it], but nothing was done about it. I guess I just had to move on from it and become stronger from that.”

Asked how he dealt with the incident, Maitland-Niles continued: “At the time, I just spoke to my dad about it and he did sort of give me the heads up and showed me a few things about racism before my time, when I was playing football, just as there still is in the game now as we've seen, from Raheem Sterling coming out to speak.

“So like I said before, I think we just really need to put our heads to it and get it cut out as soon as possible.

“To me, responding to it is scoring a goal to put their team down. I only thought they were doing it because I was having a good game in that game. I guess that's one way of them sort of trying to knock me off my game and make me feel uncomfortable about myself. But to be honest, I just try and play my football and not really say much about anything.”

Sterling has been widely credited for having the bravery to raise such a contentious issue and Maitland Niles said: “I hope [this could be a defining moment, I really do hope so.

"Raheem is a good, brave lad for doing it and I just hope that more people put their ear towards him and have some sympathy for him, because it's not the first time it's happened and we just want it to be the last.”