In anticipation of the World Cup, Sort Out Stress has been examining the experiences of gay football fans and players in the UK. Football is enjoyed by people of all ages, nationalities and races. But where are the gay footballers? Probably keeping out of sight for fear of abuse.
A recent survey of 2,500 football fans suggests that football is ‘institutionally homophobic’. The survey found that 70% of fans had heard anti-gay abuse in grounds in the past five years and more than half felt authorities did not do enough about it. Plus, five out of six football fans supported legal action against fans guilty of the alleged anti-gay abuse against Sol Campbell at the Tottenham Hotspur v Portsmouth game in 2008. What do you think? We have seen racism kicked out of football in the past years, can we do the same with homophobia?
So why are there no openly gay football players? 63% of fans in the survey blamed the prospect of anti-gay abuse from fans as the reason why there were no openly gay players in the Premier League, Championship and Leagues One and Two. Overall a third of fans believe gay professional players are unable to come out because clubs, managers or team-mates would discriminate against them or subject them to anti-gay abuse. Justin Fashanu, the first football star to come out and openly admit he was gay to the public, committed suicide in 1998. The rising star, who some believed would have gone on to play for England, experienced hostility from other players in the 1990s when his sex life came into focus. Will a top footballer ever risk going public again?
However, the survey suggested that most fans did want to see an end to homophobia in the sport, with 64% saying football would be better off without anti-gay abuse and more than two-thirds saying they would feel comfortable if a player in their team came out. But why aren’t we doing more to make this happen?
So just how many openly gay players will we see on the field during this summer’s World Cup, and how does this impact on the fans?
The beautiful game may have taken steps to reduce racism within the ranks, but has not even begun to tackle homophobia, why is this?
If you’re interested in finding out more about this issue or getting involved check out the following websites:
The Justin Campaign website: http://www.thejustincampaign.com/
The gay football supporter’s network: http://www.gfsn.org.uk/
Once one top player comes out I believe the floodgates will open. It just so happens that no one is brave enough at the moment to be the first.
If Donal Og Cusack can be the first inter county player to ‘come out’ in Gaelic games in Ireland than a professional soccer player should be encouraged to do the same. The GAA and its culture is far more conservative than that of soccer in England.
St. Pauli, newly promoted to the German Bundesliga for next season, have an openly gay President. It’s rare though, isn’t it, to have figures high up in the game be openly gay? The fact that almost no one in the game is seems kind of ludicrous; at best it’s anachronoistic, if not downright embarrassing.
I read that all 20 Premier League managers were contacted to talk about the subject a year or so back and not one replied. Crazy.