Since a premature retirement in 1994, English pro soccer player Paul Elliott has worked to fight the racism he faced as a player. Now he’s turning his attention to the next big issue facing soccer. He was asked by FIFA.com: “Where do you see the next challenge for football in fighting discrimination?” Homophobia is a [...]
Posts Tagged ‘England’
John Fashanu claims brother Justin Fashanu was not gay
John Fashanu, brother of the late Justin Fashanu (right), claims his brother was not gay and “came out” simply to get attention. John, himself a former professional footballer, said last week: My daughter was very close to her uncle and it has taken a long time for her to understand that Justin wasn’t really gay, [...]
China sweeps FINA Diving World Cup gold. David Boudia snags fourth in 10m platform.
We followed the FINA Diving World Cup this weekend as we lead up to our Olympics coverage this summer. It was fantastic to see American David Boudia (right) finish strongly in fourth place, just off of the podium, for the Men’s 10m Platform. Qiu Bo took the 10m gold and is setting himself up nicely [...]
Football Association launches anti-homophobia campaign as Amaechi, critics blast them
The Football Association in England has launched a new campaign to end homophobia in soccer. The program, called ‘Opening Doors and Joining In,’ is aimed at making football more inclusive of both players and fans. It clearly shows the FA wants to get serious about the issue (though some question whether it will have much [...]
Another soccer player, Manny Smith, tweets homophobia at gay fan
We’ve seen plenty of athletes toss around gay epithets at presumably straight people, but this is one of the rare occasions when an athlete has the balls to target an openly gay fan. Walsall FC defender Manny Smith got into an exchange with Kevin Paddock last Friday and had some choice words for the Walsall [...]
Ravel Morrison charged with rules violation by the Football Association after ‘faggot’ tweet
The Football Association has charged Ravel Morrison with a violation of FA Rule E3 “for use of abusive and/or insulting words including a reference to a person’s sexual orientation.” Morrison recently Tweeted the word “faggot” at a fan. Rule E3 of the FA states: A Participant shall at all times act in the best interests [...]
All 20 clubs in Premier League sign Sports Charter to tackle homophobia and transphobia
All 20 soccer clubs in the English Premier League have signed the government’s Sports Charter to tackle homophobia and transphobia in sport. From the UK government’s Web site: Premier League Chief Executive Richard Scudamore said: ‘The Premier League and our member clubs believe that everyone should be able to participate in, watch and enjoy sport [...]
Hyde FC signs UK government’s Charter Against Homophobia and Transphobia in Sport
The UK government’s Charter Against Homophobia and Transphobia in Sport got a new endorsement earlier this month when Hyde FC became the first Blue Square Bet North football club to sign the charter. That in turn earned the club the first Manchester Credit Union monthly equality award. From Lindsay England at the Just A Ball Game? blog: [...]
Poll shows 90% of English soccer fans are gay-friendly, blame closet on agents
Revelations that sports aren’t as homophobic as long thought are becoming a broken record in the mainstream media. The latest is yet still another poll that shows fans don’t care if a player is gay and think homophobia doesn’t belong in sports. In a study by the University of Staffordshire published in the Journal of [...]
English soccer managers embrace World AIDS Day with red ribbons
HIVSport has announced that, to mark the occasion of World AIDS Day, the League Managers Association is once again supporting the annual HIVsport World AIDS Day campaign to raise awareness of the global threat of HIV and AIDS. The League Managers Association represents all Premiership and Football League managers in English soccer. To support the [...]
John Amaechi receives Officer of the British Empire Medal
John Amaechi received his Officer of the British Empire Medal from the Prince of Wales on Wednesday, a high honor for the only openly gay former NBA player. While I sometimes personally think Amaechi slightly overstates the current environment of homophobia in sports, his target on Wednesday — British soccer — was spot-on: If you [...]
Moment #73: Steven Davies is first international cricketer to come out
Part of Outsports’ series on our 100 most important moments in gay sports history. Cricket, 2011. On Feb. 27, 2011, Steven Davies became the first publicly out international cricketer in history. He had already been out to teammates for a while, but the team banded together to conceal the secret from the public. For those [...]
Professional Footballers’ Association will support a gay British soccer player
Professional Footballers’ Association chief executive Gordon Tyler says the players union would support an openly gay player, but they would have trouble protecting him from fans. While we have made massive improvement in crowd behaviour, it would still be a very, very brave move for a player to come out. If anybody comes out it [...]
British government trying to make soccer more gay-friendly
British Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone has told Members of Parliament the government is actively trying to make the atmosphere in British soccer more gay-friendly. In commenting on the significance of the coming out of rugby’s Gareth Thomas and cricket’s Steven Davies in the last 14 months she said: Obviously it is very important and we [...]
Study shows soccer fans against homophobia
Yet still another study shows that attitudes toward gays in sports are improving. This one comes from Staffordshire University, an hour south of Manchester in England. The study asked 3,000 soccer fans and players how they feel about gays in soccer. Among other findings: 90% Think the only thing that matters in football is how [...]
English goalkeeper Joe Hart a gay icon?
English soccer goalie Joe Hart is getting some attention from fans after World Cup starter Rob Green blew a save and cost his team a win against the United States. Hart is one of three English goalies in South Africa. But he’s been getting attention from gay and straight-female fans for a while for his [...]
Watch the FA anti-homophobia ad
The expletive-laden Football Association ad aimed at fighting homophobia has hit the internet. It is full of about a dozen nasty gay epithets. And I think it’s brilliant. It demonstrates the power of the words and shows how out-of-place they are in today’s society. While some gay activists are crying foul, I think it’s just [...]
Football Association pulls anti-homophobia ad
The English Football Association was set to release an anti-homophobia ad tomorrow, but the FA has decided not to release the ad in a last-minute reversal. The ad, created by Ogilvy, “shows a man taunting, a newspaper seller, a fellow commuter on the tube and work colleagues with anti-gay language, accompanied by the caption, ‘This [...]
Hot cricketers got naked for charity
Not sure how we missed this one, but three English cricketers appeared naked (and holding well-positioned bats) in this past May’s British version of Cosmo. The gents are Stuart Broad, James Anderson and Alastair Cook, and they did it “for charity” to raise awareness of the Everyman prostate and testicular cancer campaign. The full photo [...]
Ruggers strip to show their inner gears
Yet still another in a growing line of rugby players to strip down for the cameras, some of the Six Nations stars have taken it all off for a Powerade promotional campaign that is supposed to stress the “inner gear” that athletes need to excel. Funny that they’d decide to almost show the outer gears [...]