The ugly shadow of homophobia on the world of football

Soon after I finished my recent piece on racism in football, I found myself pondering if there was anything worse than discrimination on the basis of one’s skin colour or ethnic background. It didn’t take me long to stumble on to the answer…

If one subscribes to the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, it can be noticed that discrimination on the basis of sexual choices can affect every level of the pyramid. Both racism and homophobia, the two highest levels of the pyramid, have a glaring feature in common, and also one feature that is hugely different. Self-Actualization and Esteem are clearly affected if a person is subject to discrimination of either nature; at the same time, victims of racism suffer from little or no deprivation from the Love/Belonging level as they receive empathy and support from family and friends, but due to the widespread ignorance and religious prejudice regarding homosexuality, a denizen of the LGBT community is often shunned by his/her own family and friends if he or she attempts to come out of the closet. Consequently, discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is obviously the greater of the two evils.

As despicable as racism is, it is an evil that has been combated for a longer time by increasingly larger swathes of the world population, which means that understanding and acceptance of other races has probably never been higher than it is currently. On the other hand, public acceptance of people with unconventional sexual orientations has been relatively lower and most people still remain in the dark about even the most elementary facts regarding homosexuality. When posed with the question of “why homophobia was still prevalent in sports?”, Richard Lustberg, a leading sports therapist, furnished the following answer:

“There are three factors. First, it’s a lack of education, sophistication, and awareness. Secondly, a lot of people are afraid of their own homosexual tendencies, and when they see these traits in someone else they get reactive. And third, I think organized religion has contributed in a way that has been very detrimental, and prevented us from coming together. I think when you put those three things together you have an awful situation.”

Homophobia is prevalent in many sports, but in recent times authorities, players and fans have started to show greater acceptance towards members of the LGBT community. This is evidenced by the fact that more and more sportsmen are comfortable with stepping out of the closet publicly than ever before. Sadly, however, football seems to be the ‘black sheep’ in the family of sports. Why does the ‘beautiful game’ have this dubious distinction? Is it because players from other sports have gone on to achieve greatness relatively unhindered, but the only openly gay footballer in recent (a relative word) times experienced nothing but misery and a complete destruction of his career?

Martina Navratilova

Unsurprisingly, tennis is the most tolerant of sports, with players like Billie Jean King, Hana Mandlíková and Martina Navratilova having gone on to have successful careers relatively untouched by the stigma of sexual discrimination. King and Navratilova even became ‘legends’, relatively unimpeded by harassment of any sort. These players suffered little abuse and rarely faced any form of public outrage even after public admissions of their sexual preference. The fact that the USTA National Tennis Center, located in New York City, was renamed the ‘USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center’ in her honour is ample proof that she has gained acceptance by the vast majority of tennis fans to whom the sexual choices of their players is a non-issue.

Tennis, for the most part, has catered to a more elite audience who more often than not belong to a more erudite stratum of society where education, awareness and hence acceptance are relatively commonplace. But sports such as cricket, rugby and football have traditionally commanded a wider and more plebeian audience among whom awareness may not be as prevalent.

That said, in recent times, even the environs of cricket and rugby have proved more conducive and tolerant than the one existing in the football world. This is evidenced by Welsh rugby player Gareth ‘Alfie’ Thomas who came out of the closet (albeit towards the end of his career due to his divorce) and young English cricketer Steven Davies doing the same in February 2011. The English wicket-keeper has become the first openly gay international cricketer.

Steven Davies of Surrey (R)

“It’s something I’ve lived with for a long time. Although I feel it is the right time, I am nervous about coming out. Who wouldn’t be? It’s the biggest decision I’ve had to face, and by far the toughest – bigger even than facing Brett Lee in the middle.” - Steven Davies

The fact that players from the aforementioned sports have felt safe and confident enough to come forth in such a fashion speaks volumes of the mindset of all those involved with the game. Though publicly coming out of the closet firmly remains an individual’s choice, it is sad to note that football, despite being a far more popular sport (in terms of viewership and number of countries involved) than rugby and cricket put together, cannot claim to harbor even a single openly homosexual player! That is obviously a statistical impossibility, which points an accusing finger to the overly caustic and discriminatory environment that permeates the football world, an atmosphere where a gay footballer doesn’t feel secure enough to live his life in an open and transparent fashion.

Portrait of Justin Fashanu - A tale of Woe

A peek in to the life of the first and last professional footballer who was openly homosexual will probably reveal why the modern gay footballer feels safer in the closet. Justinus Soni Fashanu, better known as Justin Fashanu, started his professional career with Norwich City where he scored 40 goals in 103 appearances. His precocious ability was evident from his spectacular strike against Liverpool which won him the BBC goal of the season award. His prolific talent ensured that he became the first black player in Britain to command a transfer fee of £1 million to move to Brian Clough’s legendary Nottingham Forest. But there, the young footballer was constantly harassed by the irascible Clough who was irked by the fact that Justin chose to frequent “bloody poof’s club[s]”. Clough was involved in another public altercation with Justin and his ‘spiritual guide’ (who attended training sessions on the player’s invitation) which ended with Clough throwing a tantrum, screaming: “the religious bloke has got to go” and summoning the police to acrimoniously escort the duo from the training facility.

The unfortunate clash between Justin’s religious beliefs, sexuality and profession ensured that his career began to slip into free-fall. That, combined with the devastating knee injury that he suffered a few years later, ensured that most clubs were reluctant to offer him a permanent long-term contract even though his performances merited one. Justin’s once-promising career dissolved into a nomadic journey from country to country and club to club; he flitted from one club to the next, unable to settle in or facing untoward antagonism at each venue. His lifestyle and choices did not help either, right from his predisposition to rashness behind the wheel and frequent brushes with the law to his disturbing tendency of selling (often false) stories of his life and sexuality to the media.

Justin received no moral support or acceptance from his family either, with his own brother John’s open denial of his homosexuality and subsequent declaration of Justin as an “outcast” through the headlines of a popular daily. The disturbed footballer finally took his own life after a scandal broke out involving a seventeen-year-old who accused Justin of sexual and physical assault. Even though the charges were eventually dropped, Justin’s life had turned into a cesspool of tribulations and public denunciation that pushed him past the point of no return. Justin Fashanu’s tragic story now serves as a cautionary tale for any other footballer who wishes to be open about his or her sexuality.

The need of the hour is a high profile gay footballer (Anton Hysén is the only other footballer to openly admit his homosexuality, and currently plies his trade in the Swedish third division for Utsiktens BK) courageous enough to face down the scrutiny of the rabid media vultures and tough enough to outlast the travails of battling discrimination. Ignoring the ill-mannered fans who may chant rude and abusive songs from the terrace is one thing but dealing with on-field sledging from fellow professionals and dealing with homophobic team-mates demands an extraordinary level of understanding and mental resilience; an almost Zlatan Ibrahimovic Level of screw-you-ism if you will!

The influence of such an icon along with FIFA and UEFA awareness campaigns (with a back-bone this time please!) and speakers from the LGBT community with the sole purpose of educating the masses could help alleviate the present shroud of ignorance and hatred that clouds the football community. But a footballer needs to take the first step, as precarious as it may be.

One can only hope that such progress takes place sooner rather than later…