Death threats and insults: Homophobia remains omnipresent in Spain’s sacred soccer world, where players do not dare “come out” in an otherwise gay-friendly country, whose capital is hosting the WorldPride until Sunday.
“First, they refused to take their showers with me,” said Jose Manuel Garoz, who was sidelined from his amateur local team in his teens when his teammates found out he was gay via social media networks.
“They provoked me all the time and we argued. We came to blows and the president decided to kick me out,” the young man, now 22, said as he stood next to a soccer pitch where he now plays in a “gay-friendly” Madrid club, GMadrid Sports.
A world leader in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights, Spain became the third country to authorize gay marriage in 2005 and Madrid is now hosting WorldPride, one of the biggest celebrations of LGBT rights.
However, homosexuality remains a taboo in the professional soccer world.
“With around 8 percent of the population gay and lesbian, it’s not normal at all that there are no overtly gay players,” Spain’s Observatory against Homophobia president Paco Ramirez said.
He believes this is because they fear it would “affect their career.”
“For a player to dare come out under these circumstances, there is no assurance that sponsors won’t drop him,” said Julien Pontes of the French Rouge Direct collective, which fights against homophobia in soccer.
Spanish sporting authorities said they are fighting against discrimination.
For instance, every weekend the Spanish La Liga details all insults shouted in stadiums.
Just several months ago, La Liga president Javier Tebas said that the league “would not allow any bad-mouthing from a co-player, the public, the media” if a soccer player revealed he was gay.
The clubs also promise they would support any player wanting to come out.
“If someone wants to freely express his homosexuality, there is no constraint in our club,” a management source at Barcelona said.
“If I were homosexual, I would say so. Even if it’s easier to say this when you’re not,” Atletico Madrid’s French star Antoine Griezmann told men’s magazine Icon.
However, despite this, no player has taken that step.
“In the football world, homophobia is everywhere,” said Jesus Tomillero, a referee who has been the victim of death threats for denouncing homophobic insults aimed at him.
“People think that football is for machos, that a gay man can dirty this image,” the 22-year-old said.
Homophobic insults are common in Spain’s stadiums, used to discredit opponents regardless of their alleged or actual sexual orientation.
Several generations of players have been on the receiving end, from Spain’s former midfielder Guti to Real Madrid’s star striker Cristiano Ronaldo, as well as coach Pep Guardiola.
The rival is a maricon (“faggot”), whoever he might be.
“Why don’t we condemn this? The referee doesn’t write it up in his match report. There is inaction from all those involved in the sport,” said Ruben Lopez, in charge of sporting issues at the Spanish LGBT Federation.
Last year, the Spanish Ministry of the Interior reported 92 hate crimes — including homophobic acts — committed in sporting facilities.
Acts targeting LGBT are not counted separately and a parliamentary initiative seeking to specifically include gays and lesbians in a law against intolerance in sports has yet to be adopted.
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