Want to secure their place in Roy's Euros squad first, before using their announcement to take some of the media pressure off the team. Coming out in football is the new 'being Jurgen Klopp' - it shields you from the media, and helps any team fly under the radar.
They probably want to live their life normally. Fall out of nightclubs at 4am with a fella rather than a blonde model, go on holiday with their boyfriend etc. Just doing that would in effect be coming out anyway, so maybe they want to control it a bit to avoid any media backlash. I reckon you could avoid ever knowing if you exercise a slight bit of media sense (simple things like just reading the front pages of the paper rather than the back; skipping Football Focus for a week; never talking to anyone again, ever) - a bit like when you don't want to hear a football score until you get home, but for the rest of your life instead of just the train ride home.
Someone gay has to come out because they have been put in the place they need to come out of by society already. No one heterosexual needs to come out of anywhere, as it is assumed by default they are straight. A straight footballer - particularly an international - will definitely have to hide their private life from the press - holiday pics, going out, even their attitude, tone of voice, demeanour etc. - which is almost certainly exhausting, and perhaps does not enable them to focus enough in achieving the most of their professional talent throughout their career. I'm sure they have loads of advisers telling them not to - aimed at minimising damage in terms of eg.loss of sponsorship, the abusive fans affecting their on-pitch performance, but probably not as focused on the long term effects of this player's quality of life. I'm for someone dealing with it as any individual wants. To come to my conclusion that it may well be Welbeck, I have used a combination of cliche (slightly effeminate manner and camp voice - also why it may not be him, as someone may instead over-compensate - for example, perhaps it's John Terry), gut feeling (I felt it as soon as I ever saw him), and the fact that he plays in London - my own feeling is that unless you are at a London club, you wouldn't attempt it. Anywhere more provincial - plus big cities up north - I don't reckon have a population collectively ready to deal with it, nor is it as easy to find the support amongst a huge gay population. (Of course, there are pockets, such as Brighton - but I mean on a regional basis rather than town by town.)
Maybe its Fraser? Wants to announce it at the end of the season, so his cruciate is in good enough nick to run from the baying, torch-wielding mob.
Not English, but it really, really wouldn't surprise me if Cristiano Ronaldo came out at some time in the future.
This shouldn't even be a story. Thr whole squad could be gay as far as I'm concerned. it should just be about their ability and their passion for thr club.
I don't think anyone's saying they are waiting to hear who the gay players are so they can't support them in any way. It's just quite a seismic shift in football. What you are saying might well be the norm for football fans across the country in five or ten years time, and it would be a better place for it. Players won't need to come out. For now it's likely to be the biggest football news story of the year. Neither of us would have cared if Rosa Parks sat next to us on a bus one day years ago either, I'm sure...
Think the old arguments about harming sponsorship etc, are just that....old. If anything the opportunities being the first openly gay footballer will be huge. If I was the agent of a gay footballer, I would be dragging them out the closet
In North America, that has been the most fascinating element of the progress made: how suddenly, once public opinion reached a tipping point, the corporate community went from treating any discussion of gay rights as radioactive to embracing them wholesale. I am under no misconception that the #brands are beacons of courage and righteousness, but they know a winning PR issue when they see one, and I would have never expected for gay rights to be such just a few years ago. So yeah; coming out won't be bad for anyone's income. I'd imagine that it's the effect on personal and professional relationships that terrify, and the fact that this will ultimately be the lens through which their career, and their character, is viewed. That's an awful lot of pressure.
Indeed it isn't. And I would put it to us that there are bigoted, ignorant people amongst us still and they are persistent and belligerent in their attitude.
