How Does Orientation Impact the Career of Football Players?

It is almost 23 years since Justin Fashanu, an English professional footballer, declared his gay orientation. Being the first-ever player to do that, his career would immediately be jeopardized, and things turned out ugly for him. A generational talent, he struggled with his career significantly due to discrimination and finally committed suicide for fear of an unfair ruling in a court case due to his sexuality. This remains a bitter memory for football fans.

Nevertheless, supportive campaigns like the English Premier League's Rainbow Laces campaign sort to support and promote LGBT inclusion and discrimination. Hence, it would be easy to imagine that an openly gay, bisexual, or queer footballer would be nothing out of the ordinary.

But while the environment for LGBT football players has become safer in recent years, most players still dread coming out publicly. This is likely due to the challenges of being open about one's sexuality and the desire for an average career without added complications.

Here are some ways sexual orientation affects a footballer's career.

Lack of Support

Some players may fear coming out in fear of not being supported by their coaches, teammates, and clubs. LGBTQ activist John Amaechi told UK MPs that Premier League football players are afraid of coming out due to fear of lack of support but are openly out to family and friends.

Lack of support may take a toll on a player's mental health, making them feel lonely. This, in turn, leads to poor performance because of the disconnect from the rest of the team. Lack of support by a club opens players up to abuse and discrimination, killing their motivation and tanking their performance.

The LGBT society is supportive, including gay dating sites in London, where football fans and players alike can mingle, date, and be themselves. In fact, it is mostly thanks to gay online dating in London that gay footballers can feel like they belong because dating platforms gather like-minded people from every corner of the globe. Here, they can meet new people from London and worldwide without fear of being judged.

Unwanted Media Attention

An open letter by Sports Media LGBT, a networking group for industry professionals, noted that players fear coming out of the closet due to intense interest from the media. This attention can damage a player's brand if their sexual orientation is unacceptable to the fans.

Footballers have been known to be affected by media attention and are always advised to live private lives to help them focus. Unwanted media attention opens them up to more abuse and acts as a distraction.

Abuse and Discrimination

Josh Cavallo, an Adelaide United defender, came out as gay and was the target of homophobic abuse from Melbourne Victory FC fans in the stadium and on social media. In another case, Jake Daniels, who is an openly gay footballer, has faced abuse on the internet severally. Football players can be psychologically affected by the abuse they receive and may lose concentration and perform poorly. The FA, therefore, has always come out to fight even the subtlest forms of abuse by fans.

Giving Up on Their Career?

It is important to note that there aren't clear guidelines about transgender football players, which is a good enough reason for them not to come out. Coming out as transgender may lead to worse discrimination, as seen in other sports, with people citing unfair advantages over other players. Players anticipating bias choose to differ their interest in the sport and concentrate elsewhere.

LGBT discrimination negatively impacts every sport through:

• Poor performance from players.
• Fear of coming out means some talented sportspersons would rather not play, leading to a loss of talent.
• Discrimination can lead to the loss of fans and sponsorships in support of the LGBTQ community
• Discrimination may set a bad precedent of denying people their rights if tolerated and may encourage other antisocial behaviors like racism and sexism


Conclusion

Even though the football world today is friendlier to the LGBT community, many professional footballers are still afraid to open up about their sexual orientation. However, all football players must be included regardless of their sexuality because this is a human right. There should be regular sensitization on matters of sexuality for the fans, players, and coaches, including penalties for discrimination and abuse.

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