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News - Why are there no openly gay footballers?

Liverpool striker Djibril Cisse has vowed not to kiss his team-mates after scoring a goal for fear of being thought of as gay. As football authorities make tackling homophobia a priority, why are there no openly homosexual players?

Figures from politics and showbiz come out and few people bat an eyelid, but the most popular sports remain a bastion for casual sex dating movie
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The decision of any well-known players in football, rugby or cricket to come out is no-one else’s to make, but the football authorities have acknowledged the working environment could be a barrier to them being honest.

The Football Association held its first “homophobia summit” this week to launch a strategy aimed at dealing with anti-gay abuse regularly heard on the terraces and occasionally on the pitch. A Hull City supporter was recently convicted and fined after taunting Brighton fans.

I’ve had players over the years who were single and read books and so others said they must be gay Alan Smith Former football manager

But Cisse’s comments, which were probably meant as light-hearted fun, suggest there is some way to go before gay players feel sufficiently comfortable to come out.

Among 4,000 professional footballers, it would be impossible for some not to be gay, says Alan Smith, who managed Crystal Palace and Wycombe Wanderers. He thinks there are probably fewer than in the rest of society because the potential abuse would put young gay men off pursuing football as a career.

“Football is a profession that doesn’t allow anyone to be different,” he says. “I’ve had players over the years who were single and read books and so others said they must be gay.

“I suspect it may have bothered them but they got on with it because that’s what they wanted to do.

“I think being openly gay would be something very difficult to live with in football.”

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Players are crude about it, he says, with comments like “shirt-lifter” commonly made as a way to fit into a macho culture.

“You can get drunk and beat up your wife and that’s quite acceptable, but if someone were to say ‘I’m gay’, it’s considered awful. It’s ridiculous.”

Former Ireland international Tony Cascarino says coming out could end a player’s career and his life would be a misery, and the experience of the UK’s only openly gay player to date backs up that claim.

Justin Fashanu, who played for Norwich, Nottingham Forest and Hearts, endured abuse after coming out in 1990. After his suicide eight years later, the coroner said the prejudices he experienced, plus the sexual assault charge he was facing at the time of his death, probably overwhelmed him.

Cover-up

Maybe it’s no surprise to hear that gay players apparently go to great lengths to try to hide their sexuality. PR guru Max Clifford has claimed he was approached twice by major clubs to help make players present a “straight” image.

Fashanu was the first black 1m footballer

But players lower down the leagues face greater abuse, says Richard Columbell of the Gay Football Supporters Network, because the corporate atmosphere of the Premiership makes it more politically-correct.

What the FA is doing is a start, he says, but the clubs must follow their lead.

“I think football managers need to say it doesn’t matter and clubs need to say it will be tackled in the same way as racist or sexist language.

“You can’t change what people think but you can change what they are allowed to do.”

If you ask the traditional footballer supporter or anyone involved they will say footballers are not gay Martin Perry Chief executive Brighton and Hove Albion Managers decline debate

Despite the FA’s stated aims, the issue appears taboo among managers. When BBC Radio Five Live wrote to the 20 Premier League managers with three questions about homophobia, all 20 refused to answer.

It seems the UK may be waiting a few more years before players emerge from the “closet”, but there is a precedent to be found in Australia.

Ian Roberts, who played one of the world’s toughest sports, rugby league, came out in 1994, six years before he retired. The reaction, he says, was generally positive.