Antoine Semenyo believes that prison sentences should be considered a punishment for racial abuse in football, after his “painful” experiences by a supporter last week.
The first match of the new Premier League season was marred by an incident in which the Bournemouth Forward reportedly was the target of a Pitch-Side spectator in Anfield, during the 4-2 defeat of Liverpool.
Ghana International, born in London, who scored twice in the match, reported the incident to referee Anthony Taylor and a 47-year-old man was then arrested.
The man was released on a bail on suspicion of an exacerbated infringement of public order and is prohibited for every regulated football match in the UK as part of his bail conditions.
In his first interview about this, Semenyo ITV News said that the available sanctions should be even more serious.
“It is unacceptable, it should not happen in this time. The punishment must be the maximum,” he said.
“It can be imprisonment, it can be banned from stadiums for a lifetime, it can be everything in the style, but I feel that there must be something else.
“I express all players: if it happens, make sure that the maximum punishment is something that happens.
“Those (anti-racism) campaigns, they worked for a while, but for the long term it didn't really work. I feel that something else needs to be done.”
Asked if he felt the level of attention about last week's incident, would act as a deterrent in the future, Semenyo added: “I would like to think.
“I hope it does, but if that is not the case, it just shows that what we do, what the Premier League does, it is not enough and there is more to do.”
Premier League Chief Executive Richard Masters repeated similar feelings last weekend and BBC Sport said: “No Premier League football player can ever experience that kind of abuse at their workplace or online.
“It makes people like me and other football people who are responsible about the game think twice about what else we can do to ensure that these things do not happen in the future.
“If you use a discriminatory language on a football field, you will be ejected, secondly you will be prohibited, and thirdly you can be confronted with criminal prosecution.”
Semenyo, who thanked the teammates, opponents and fans who showed him support on the day, also revealed that he was subject to further abuse on social media in the aftermath of the incident.
“I feel it just doesn't make sense this time and we want to know why it continues to happen. It was pretty painful to hear,” he said.
“I went back to the coach and I just went through my messages. I wanted to reply to family and friends, to be honest and then it clearly came across the screen on Instagram, I was also racist, and it was just like immediately after the game that happened.
“Someone has felt the need to get online and to do that, so that made me angry, to be honest. Why would you want to do that?”