After the Manchester United goalkeeper’s comments about the troubles surrounding homosexuality in the professional game the issue has been raised one again. Mathew Nash takes a brief moment to analyse the comments and what effect they should have on the wider issue.
Steven Davies, Matthew Mitcham and Gareth Thomas; all sportsmen who perform at the absolute pinnacle of their potential and highest levels of their respective sports cricket, diving and rugby union. The other thing they all have in common is their sexuality.
In some sports the ‘taboo’ over homosexuality has begun to lose its sting. While not attempting to gloss over the wider ranging issues of sport in general the focus of homosexuality in football has once again come into the spotlight this week. Manchester United goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard has broken the silence of professional footballers when it comes to the subject of gay professionals by saying in his blog that ‘Homosexuals are in need of a hero’. The Norwegian went on to say that the problem would not be from fellow colleagues but more the fans who ‘are stuck in a time of intolerance that does not deserve to be compared with modern society’s development in the last decades.’
Of course it is not fair to brush all fans with the same brush. Not every fan is adopting the characteristics of a gorilla at black footballers, or shouting anti-Semitic taunts at Tottenham fans. However the minority have tainted the game once again with their small-minded actions and no matter what you think Lindegaard is correct that some ‘fans’ would use a footballer’s homosexuality as a means to direct abuse.
First of all I think the United stopper deserves an element of respect for his comments. When Amal Fashanu, niece of Britain’s first openly gay footballer Justin, made a documentary on the subject of gay footballers she struggled to get any of the Premier Leagues players to talk about the issue. In the end the only player willing to speak openly on the matter was the divisive Joey Barton. While the cynics will note that Barton might look for any reason for air-time he was the only one brave enough. It will be interesting how Lindegaard is received at Reading (knowing Reading fans it will be a non-issue to them) to see if there is the need for this lips-sealed approach to the problem.
There is also the argument that does it matter? Does a player’s sexuality affect their footballing ability? The personal life of a professional footballer is just that; personal and if they do not wish to share that information with the general public or their team-mates then that is their prerogative. We must be careful to avoid the witch-hunt of obscured images and sensationalistic tabloid headlines that have been seen in the past.
Without being too quick-fire on claim and counter-claim there is also the argument of demographics. Statistics can be misleading so the idea that there simply MUST be a gay Premier League footballer is not necessarily true. If this was so there would also be a British-Asian footballer or two or 20 playing top-flight football. However my personal opinion is that there will be footballers in the Premier League who are homosexual.
That in itself is not a problem but I also believe that the majority of these players are only remaining tight-lipped about their sexuality through fear of persecution in the press, stands and the changing room. That is a problem.
This isn’t just a British phenomenon; in Germany the debate has raged on after Bayern Munich and Germany pair Mario Gomez and Phillip Lahm both made comments about the potential for ‘openly gay’ footballers. Both said they would welcome a homosexual team-mate although Lahm, like Lindegaard, feared for the abuse they would receive from the crowd. Italian striker Antonio Cassano made headlines after admitting he ‘hoped’ there was no gay players in the Italy squad for Euro 2012. Some people on message boards relating to the subject that have sprung up in the past 24 hours have commented on how it would make elements like showering together difficult for heterosexual men knowing they were in the company of someone different in their sexual inclination. I have played sport with a lad who just so happened to be homosexual; did it change anything for me personally; no as far as I am concerned he was a team-mate pure and simple and I am not so insecure to think he would see ‘shower-time’ as an opportunity to peruse his team-mates for fanciful attributes.
Did it make some of the other lads on my team uncomfortable; of course it did as at the end of the day everyone is individual and has their own feelings toward different situations that are not always ‘on-par’ with the highest echelons of human grace but again that would not make them homophobic in anyway.
The situation is complex and to delve into such an intricate matter would take a much larger and more in-depth analysis of the game and its current issues then possible in a few hundred words. What should be taken away from it all is that more players like Lindegaard feeling open to talk about the brushed under the carpet issue of sexuality in football the better. Not to induce pressure on players to come out immediately but rather so that when a player does come out as gay, which will happen, they are doing so into an environment of acceptance and openness rather than the shrouded ‘last taboo’ of the English game.
What did you make of Anders Lindegaard’s comments? Helpful or unhelpful?
image: © nasmac
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