Former Arsenal midfielder Gilberto Silva is taking on a new role away from football, and he spoke to us this week to explain what it entails.

Gilberto Silva has an enviable CV in football, having won the World Cup, the Copa America, and the Confederations Cup (twice) with Brazil, as well as being part of the Arsenal Invincible side of 2003/04.

Gilberto won five trophies with the Gunners, and he was also successful elsewhere, winning the double in Greece with Panathinaikos and lifting the Copa Libertadores with Atletico Mineiro.

With his playing days now behind him, the 47-year-old serves as an ambassador for Arsenal and FIFA. But he’s taking on a new challenge, linking up with suicide prevention charity Campaign Against Living Miserably.

Speaking to Daily Cannon this week, Gilberto explained how that partnership came about.

“I’ve known CALM for quite a few years now,” Gilberto began.

“When I first heard about them I started to find out what they do, what was their project, after that I understood especially the importance of the work they do which is massive and so useful, so important for society.

“The reason for me to join them after all these years, since I first heard of them, is especially to help them spread the message for the work they do.

“They support so many people, but I still believe that there are some people that still need to listen to them, to listen to the work they do.

“We have seen that in the last few years, a lot of problems came out in society, where people are facing tough challenges in their life. And sometimes they don’t get any help.

“I know sometimes when you are in trouble, when you face some difficulties in life and you don’t have anybody to share them with, anybody to help you out, and you don’t have anybody to count on, to listen to you, this is so hard.

“But with the work of CALM, they have helped so many people. I hope that we can deliver this message all over the world to reach those people that believe ‘there is no other way for me, I am alone, I don’t know what to do’.

“There is. There is CALM, and we are here to spread the message, but also to support them.”

Mental health issues and football are becoming two increasingly interconnected worlds, particularly with the rise of social media.

It’s easier than ever to get in contact with your favourite players, and thus it’s also easier than ever to send them abuse.

Reflecting on his own playing days, Gilberto admitted things were very different, but the same pressures were still there.

“We didn’t have social media, but we had the media, the newspapers, the TV, and radio,” Gilberto argued.

“What we had to deal with was about how to manage our expectations, how to manage our feelings, emotions. When we didn’t do things well on the field, when we played badly.

“Sometimes I had bad games, I had some normal games, and sometimes games I had to forget that I was on the field!

“And how do you deal with these kinds of situations? For me, the best way was going back to the training session and doing things better.”

Gilberto still clearly believes social media can be used for good. Along with Roberto Carlos, the former midfielder recently set up his own social media platform, Striver, which aims to tackle abuse through pre-upload content moderation.

“Sometimes people tell me ‘social media changed people, it makes these problems increase’,” Gilberto continued.

“I think what social media gave to people was the space for them to express their freedom. It was not social media itself that made those problems, but people’s behaviour.

“People’s behaviour on social media sometimes drives people to anxiety, to a terrible day.

“Stop it. Don’t listen to those people. Players, for example, as we have seen, a lot have been abused on social media. Don’t read them, block them. Simple as that.

“You have to ask, are they real fans of my team, are they a real supporter? Because a supporter means support when I’m in a bad time, when I face tough times.

“Sometimes we see a different situation where people get frustrated because of a result, because of a bad performance and they believe that going to the players’ social media and attacking them and abusing them will make them feel happy.

“When you do this, you are a miserable person, believe me.”

When asked whether there are still reasons to be optimistic about the impact of social media, Gilberto was clear.

“We have to believe that we can help people to improve their lives. I’m really positive,” Gilberto enthused.

“Of course we see a lot of things in the world, especially in the political aspect. ‘If I don’t agree with you, you are wrong, I am right.’

“No, it’s not like this. I think if you have a different opinion, I want to understand why you have a different opinion of this kind of thing.

“When you’re not open to listen and to have a decent conversation, we stop the learning process.

“You can have a different opinion from anybody, but respecting everybody is so important for the benefit of all of us.”

Former professional footballer Gilberto Silva is the newest ambassador for suicide prevention charity Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM). CALM stands united against suicide and as part of his signing, Silva will help raise awareness of rising suicide rates in the UK, which sees 125 lives lost to suicide each week.

1 in 5 people in the UK will experience suicidal thoughts and CALM is there every day to help anyone who’s struggling see that things can change.

To find out more about CALM, services or for support or advice, visit thecalmzone.net.