Cases of gay footballers worldwide

Football is so impermeable to accepting homosexuality that the number of players that have come out can be counted on fingers. The first was Nottingham Forest’s Justin Fashanu, who confessed to being gay in 1990. It all ended tragically for the black forward – the fans mocked him, some of his teammates rejected him and he came to be the target of the British yellow press. After being accused by a teen of sexual assault, Fashnau committed suicide in May, 1998.

Another Englishman, Liam Davis, had better luck – he went public with his homosexuality at the age of 23 while playing for Gainsborough Trinity and both his teammates and the fans accepted him.

The case of Germany’s Thomas Hitzlsperger is emblematic – he played in midfield for Aston Villa and the German national team. He had a girlfriend throughout his playing career and cancelled the wedding the month before the ceremony, only coming clean about his sexual preferences upon retirement from football.

Sweden’s Anton Hysén came out of the closet in 2011 when he agreed to pose for the cover of Offside magazine. He had the good fortune that his family, friends and teammates supported his decision. Since then, apart from playing in Sweden’s Second Division, he has become a public activist for homosexual rights.

Lastly, there’s the case of Robbie Rogers of the United States. In 2013, while playing for English side Leeds United, he published a post on his blog that revealed he was gay. He retired from football but then returned to play for LA Galaxy and win the league, also playing for the US national team.