Homophobia in European football?
Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2014 9:22 am'Thomas Hitzlsperger says there is "a long way to go" before there will be an openly gay man playing in a top league. The ex-Aston Villa midfielder, 31, who retired because of injury in September, revealed his sexuality on Wednesday. "We still have a long way to go because we fear a reaction and we don't know what will happen," Hitzlsperger, who won 52 caps for Germany, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "I can't imagine playing football and doing this at the same time." Hitzlsperger, who also had spells at West Ham and Everton, admitted he thought about coming out while he was still playing. But he decided against doing so because he felt the resulting scrutiny on him might have proved too much of a distraction from on-pitch matters. "Towards the end of my career, I was pretty sure I was gay, that I wanted to be with a man and live with a man," Hitzlsperger said. "About two years ago, I was almost at the same point where I wanted to speak out. I've never been ashamed of it and towards the end I thought about it. But I thought I still I wanted to be a football player more than I wanted issues of talking about my private life. Anything that was distracting me from football, I put it to one side. Certainly dealing with this issue takes a lot of time and energy so I thought: 'I don't really want to deal with it.'" In other sports, high-profile athletes have openly spoken about their sexuality, with Olympic diver Tom Daley revealing in December he was in a relationship with a man. However, examples in football are less common. In 1990, former England Under-21 international Justin Fashanu was the first professional footballer in Britain to come out as gay. He retired from football in 1997 and took his own life a year later, aged 37.'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25661228
"I'm sure there are a lot of players over the years who have played in England, or wherever, and are too frightened to come out." When Robbie Keane spoke to the New York Times in May, the Los Angeles Galaxy captain went on to explain where he believed that fear came from: "Maybe the fans are a bit more brutal in England than they would be here."...Fashanu's announcement contributed to his personal and professional demise, such was the homophobia he encountered. It was not a path Rogers, revealing his sexuality on his website 23 years later, wanted to go down. He promptly quit the game, saying remaining in football after publicly declaring your homosexuality was "impossible", before reversing his decision and joining Galaxy three months later. Rogers, 26, admits he was not prepared to become a role model - he wanted to concentrate on football and not have to deal with the abuse he considered would be inevitable. And it is that abuse that he, like Keane, who played for numerous big clubs in England and Scotland before moving to America, believes is preventing others from coming out. "It's a little bit sad," Rogers told BBC Radio 5 live's Victoria Derbyshire. "Fans need to realise that what you're saying to players, especially when you are on that level…. you need to think it through before you start yelling at players."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23288762
'The Football Association confirmed on Tuesday night that the former player Michael Johnson has stepped down from its Inclusion Advisory Board, aimed at promoting equality in the game, after he previously described homosexuality as "detestable". As revealed by the Guardian last week, Johnson said in a television debate in 2012 during the BBC's The Big Questions programme: "Because of my beliefs, because of the Bible that I read, in the Bible it does state that homosexuality is detestable unto the Lord." Johnson, who played for Birmingham, Derby and Notts County, stated last Thursday that his opinions on homosexuality had changed. Heather Rabbatts, the FA board member and chair of the IAB, claimed that Johnson still had a part to play on the board because "through his own personal journey he has a huge amount to offer".'
http://www.theguardian.com/football/201 ... sary-board
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25661228
"I'm sure there are a lot of players over the years who have played in England, or wherever, and are too frightened to come out." When Robbie Keane spoke to the New York Times in May, the Los Angeles Galaxy captain went on to explain where he believed that fear came from: "Maybe the fans are a bit more brutal in England than they would be here."...Fashanu's announcement contributed to his personal and professional demise, such was the homophobia he encountered. It was not a path Rogers, revealing his sexuality on his website 23 years later, wanted to go down. He promptly quit the game, saying remaining in football after publicly declaring your homosexuality was "impossible", before reversing his decision and joining Galaxy three months later. Rogers, 26, admits he was not prepared to become a role model - he wanted to concentrate on football and not have to deal with the abuse he considered would be inevitable. And it is that abuse that he, like Keane, who played for numerous big clubs in England and Scotland before moving to America, believes is preventing others from coming out. "It's a little bit sad," Rogers told BBC Radio 5 live's Victoria Derbyshire. "Fans need to realise that what you're saying to players, especially when you are on that level…. you need to think it through before you start yelling at players."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23288762
'The Football Association confirmed on Tuesday night that the former player Michael Johnson has stepped down from its Inclusion Advisory Board, aimed at promoting equality in the game, after he previously described homosexuality as "detestable". As revealed by the Guardian last week, Johnson said in a television debate in 2012 during the BBC's The Big Questions programme: "Because of my beliefs, because of the Bible that I read, in the Bible it does state that homosexuality is detestable unto the Lord." Johnson, who played for Birmingham, Derby and Notts County, stated last Thursday that his opinions on homosexuality had changed. Heather Rabbatts, the FA board member and chair of the IAB, claimed that Johnson still had a part to play on the board because "through his own personal journey he has a huge amount to offer".'
http://www.theguardian.com/football/201 ... sary-board