Prince William writes to Newsround reporter Balraj about racism in football
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Imagine being ten years old and receiving a royal letter in the post from Prince William!
Well, that's what has happened to Balraj, who recently investigated racism in football for Newsround.
He has spoken up against the discrimination he has faced when playing the game.
Prince William watched Balraj's story and decided to write him a very special letter of support!
Here's a very happy Balraj holding a very special letter!
Balraj is Sikh and is football mad. But he experienced racist abuse for playing the game he loves.
Balraj went to two different football camps in 2017 and 2018 where he was called names, grabbed, bullied and isolated by some of the other children there.
He now knows that the other children were being racist, and Balraj has made it his mission to help stamp out racism in football.
Here's the letter from Prince William!
Prince William saw Balraj's story and decided to write to him, He wrote: "I wanted to write and thank you for your bravery in speaking out against the racist abuse you suffered."
He goes on to say, "Your determination to not let racists stop you playing the game you love is admirable. However, it deeply troubles me that football-mad fans like yourself are still having to deal with this entirely unacceptable behaviour. Discrimination, in all its forms, must be stamped out once and for all."
"Thank you for using your voice to highlight this extremely important issue."
Balraj was a mascot for England in 2018 and walked onto the pitch with England player Danny Rose
Reacting to the letter, Balraj said; "I can't believe Prince William has written to me. That's amazing - I'm speechless."
"Lots of people have had racism happen to them - I'm glad the Newsround series is making people more aware of what's going on."
- Published1 April 2022
