FIFA have confirmed that they can't manage to do one simple job, by confirming that the 2022 World Cup will actually be held in 2023, so that they can pocket a few more backhanders. Ludicrous, yet totally expected. Joke organisation. In other news former Aston Villa midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger has become the first major name in European football since Justin Fashanu to come out and reveal that he's gay. Probably won't be getting an invite to Qatar, then? By a strange coincidence the French TV company Canal+ interviewed former Chelsea bigot Alex for a TV programme about religion. He used the old cliche with a Gallic twist by claiming that âGod created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Yves.â Classy.
Still need that one big name that's still playing to come out before any real progress will be made with that particular issue... The world cup was always going to be in winter, they must have known that back when they first gave it to Quatar. Not sure why they've waited this long to confirm it
Perhaps I'm being naïve but is there really any issue with homosexuality in football/ sport nowadays? Sure there's the odd knob like Alex but you'll always get one or two idiots with their small minded views in all categories of life, not just sexuality. There'll be the odd fan who has their extreme views too but this, in my opinion, is a very small minority. When a player/ sportsman "comes out" I don't see any negative press towards it. All you tend to see is supportive and positive responses. Robbie Rodgers got applauded as he returned to Elland Road the other week and the nation still loves Tom Daley. I've yet to go to a game where a player has been abused because of their sexuality, or where a fan base has used homosexual slander towards anyone whether they're gay or not as a way to insult them. The only chant I can remember, and it was meant tongue in cheek, was West Ham singing to Brighton "we can see you holding hands" - which to me is comical and not nasty, others may disagree with that but Brighton fans supposedly laughed their arses off according to my mate. Me personally, I couldn't give a toss whether you're straight/ gay/ bi. I have a very good mate who's gay and an Auntie who's a lesbo... Makes no difference to me whatsoever. Sexuality doesn't change my opinion of a person. Perhaps my laid back stance results in me being blind to any issues that may exist but I truly believe there isn't an issue. Now racism, THAT is a problem that needs tackling in my opinion.
It was a few years ago, but didn't we have a song about Sol Campbell that was less than nice with a hint of homesexual "banter"? Its not a song i ever joined in with so i'm not sure the entire words. There currently aren't any out players that i know of who are actually playing are there? In England? If we had a song like that for Campbell (who wasn't gay) then i'd hate to think what fans would come up with for a gay player playing for a local rival.
Which chant was that mate? I either don't know it or maybe my minds gone blank. Maybe footballers have come out to their team mates? The only players we know that are gay are the ones that tell the reporters, not being funny but if every footballer spoke to the reporters about their sexuality it'd be a boring world of sport. Was the Sol chant the "Sol, Sol wherever you may be..." one?
I think that's the problem for any gay footballers thinking of coming out. Modern attitudes may have moved on, but football crowds and their "banter", have not changed much at all. IMO, you would need to be very courageous AND have a skin like a rhinoceros to stand up to the constant barracking that would inevitably ensue at any away game.
Yes i think it was that one. I don't know the words though, so i could be wrong. I don't wanna look it up at work as even if it wasn't anti-gay i know it wasn't nice
The Judas song had a bit in it about having HIV. Fair to say that it was probably homophobic, if not explicitly so. Could've been an unlikely reference to him shagging around, following his rather Jeremy Kyle-esque reaction to finding out he was a father, but I doubt it. It does seem that openly gay sportsmen receive little abuse nowdays, thanfully, but anyone rumoured to be gay gets plenty of stick. Graeme Le Saux's sexuality came into question because he'd read a few books, for example.
What do the World Cups of 1930, 1950, 1962, 1978, 2010 and 2014 have in common? They were all played in the winter as well. Somehow this fact has eluded the hacks busy kvetching about Qatar being awarded the 2022 tournament...
Impossible to know until the situation arises!! I don't mind it if there is a bit of meat on the bones, but there are limits!!
As for Hitzlsperger, saying he chose the right time to come out a mere four months after announcing his retirement shows such courage. At least Tom Daley timed it to coincide with a new series of his TV show nobody watches, yet made sure to keep one foot in the closet in case advertisers were put off...
