Of late, Arsenal defender Hector Bellerin has been subjected to a lot of online and offline abuse. The Spanish full back had a tough start to the new Premier League campaign after Arsenal faced consecutive defeats to Manchester City and Chelsea.
As a result, the 23-year-old received severe criticism not only for his performances but also for his personal lifestyle.
The full back was forced to delete his Twitter account following severe homophobic abuse he received on the platform.
The Spaniard believes that such abusive comments make it “impossible” for Premier League players to come out as gay. In an interview with The Times, the full back said that fans have a certain perception of what a footballer should look like, how they should behave and what they should talk about and he emphasizes that this is a big problem.
In the interview, Bellerin said, “The problem is that people have an idea of what a footballer should look like, how they should behave, what they should talk about."
“It is impossible that anybody could be openly gay in football. Some fans are not ready. When it happened in rugby with the Welsh player [Gareth Thomas], people respected the situation. The fans respected his decision.
“In football, the culture is different. It can be very personal, very nasty, particularly for players from the opposition team.”
“People have called me ‘lesbian’ for growing my hair. There are other kinds of homophobic insults. I have learnt to grow a thick skin but it can affect you. Every now and again, you get a bit of self-doubt.”
“Some of it can get very abusive. Most of the abuse is online, but you hear it in the stadium, too."
The defender added, “You act a little differently and you become a target. There is pressure to conform. This is very dangerous. In life, you should be allowed to express yourself. People are happier like this."
“When I played badly, the stick got [was] crazy. The worst was a year and a half ago. A lot of people say nice things but it is natural to focus on the bad.”
Fans have since reacted to the defender's decision:
Bellerin has since restored his Twitter account, adding that the abuse will not stop him from expressing himself.