In an interview with Italian publication, Il Mattino, Super Eagles and Napoli forward Victor Osimhen has opened up on why he deliberately keeps the information about his daughter and his girlfriend away from social media, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
Osimhen is arguably one of football stars’ most active personnel on social media.
Always in the eye of the public, the 23-year-old connects well with his fans on Twitter and Instagram and is also one of the most bantered celebrities.
Despite his activeness on social media, the Napoli forward has never shared any picture of his daughter since she was born in October. It was only recently that he revealed her name – Haly – but the picture of the young girl and her mother remains some of the rarest things on social media.
Speaking with Il Mattino on why he had kept the details of their existence away from Twitter and Instagram, Osimhen said he was protecting them from horrible things on social media.
“There is always someone who is ready to criticize, to pour out hatred, to insult,” Osimhen said.
“As long as they do it with me, it’s part of the game, you can even ignore it.
“But I could never accept that someone could use abusive words towards my daughter or any of my family members. I don’t want to suffer these attacks on my affections, that’s why I defend my family’s privacy from the attacks of those who hate and are capable of writing horrible things on social media.
“I keep my private life to myself because it is not available to anyone.”
While he may have been able to protect his families from the insults from fans and haters on social media, the forward, who is currently one of the best strikers in the Italian Serie A, is often the target of abuses and insults from rival fans on the pitch and online.
But Osimhen insists the racist chants do not get to him.
He continued, “It is a theme to be abused on social media, by rival fans.
“Here in Naples, I feel in a welcoming, understanding place, where I have never felt anything discriminatory.
“I don’t think about racism, I think about scoring goals. Here in Naples we are all a family, and then there are many black players here and it is nice to receive all this love from the Azzurri fans.”
