Prince William Shares Support for Soccer Star Who Revealed Abuse Story: 'Brave and Inspirational'

"Discussing mental health is not a sign of weakness. Let’s keep the conversation going," the Prince of Wales wrote in a personal tweet

Prince William is supporting a British soccer star speaking about the trauma he faced for the first time.

On Thursday, the Prince of Wales praised Dele Alli in a rare personal message on his official Kensington Royal Twitter page. William, 41, retweeted a clip of the new interview the 27-year-old midfielder gave to sports show The Overlap, where he revealed that he was sexually abused as a child and went to rehab this summer for a sleeping pill addiction.

“Brave and inspirational @dele_official,” William wrote. “Discussing mental health is not a sign of weakness. Let’s keep the conversation going. We’re all with you and we wish you the very best.”

The prince signed off with “W,” as he typically does for personal messages.

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In a snippet of the sit-down the Prince of Wales shared, Alli told host Gary Neville, “I was wining the fight, smiling, showing that I was happy, but inside I was definitely losing the battle. Trauma is trauma, and your body registers it in the same way, no matter what it is. If you knew my life, you would understand that a little bit more. I want to help other people to know that they're not alone in the feelings they've got. And it doesn't make you weak to get help.”

According to the Associated Press, Alli was considered to be “one of English soccer’s biggest talents” but faced a challenging few last years in his career. In the emotional interview, released Thursday, the athlete revealed that he was molested at age 6 by a family friend and started dealing drugs at age 8, before being adopted at age 12. The soccer star helped lead Team England to the World Cup semifinals in 2018, and later developed an addiction to sleeping medication to cope with the trauma he faced in childhood.

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Alli spent last summer playing in Turkey and is currently signed to Everton, and checked into a six-week rehab program in the U.S. earlier this summer for addiction, mental health and trauma treatment, ESPN said. He told Neville that today he is mentally in the “best place I've ever been.”

Prince William is president of the Football Association, the governing body of English soccer. He has previously used the position to campaign on combating racism  and fostering better mental health via the reach that soccer has in Britain and beyond.

In November, the Prince of Wales sat down with two England soccer internationals to talk about how they cope with mental challenges both on and off the pitch ahead of the FIFA World Cup.

 If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, please contact the SAMHSA helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.

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