Is the world ready for gay footballer? I doubt it! The player who once donned the colours of London clubs Queens Park
Rangers and Tottenham Hotspurs says players are scared of receiving
abuse from fans and as a result will do anything to prevent revealing
their gay status.
The Mirror last weekend revealed two Premier League stars
are set to come out before the start of next season as gay, though
neither player's name has been disclosed.
The news received widespread support from within the football community,
with Thierry Henry in particular saying it would be great for the
sport.
But former Tottenham and Newcastle midfielder Jenas, believes players
have no qualms or issues with sharing a dressing room with a gay
footballer for a long time now and it is only abuse from the fans that
is holding gay players from coming out.
"I have never come across a single player who has come out in English
football, but that's not because of players' attitudes. The place a gay
player would get the most support - and the least amount of problems -
is from their team-mates." He said in his column for yahoo.
"When you're in a football team you're in it together, no matter what,
and every player would accept a gay team-mate with no problem
whatsoever.
"It's a fear of being abused at away grounds that most prevents
footballers coming out. Football is a game where we still have fans
meeting up for a pre-match scrap - we're talking borderline caveman
stuff. You can imagine the homophobic songs that would rear their heads
if a football player came out as gay."
It should be noted that no Eenglish premier league or even British footballer has ever come out to confirm his gay status.
In 2013 American Robbie Rogers became the second male footballer based
in Britain to come out. At the time he was a free agent having been
released from Leeds United. After coming out, Rogers briefly retired
before reversing his decision and signing for the club Los Angeles
Galaxy.