Gareth Thomas, the previous captain of the Welsh rugby team has made a public statement about his support for gay footballers and his desires for the breakdown of prejudices that he has seen towards homosexual people in the sport.
He is regarded as the most high-profile sportsmen in the UK who is openly gay and he has recently made his remarks in a BBC documentary. He stated that many talented players are being turned off the sport because of its homophobic nature.
In the documentary he commented, “If the Football Association were to issue a statement saying that they would take a hard line on any homophobic behaviour in the game then more talented footballers would join in the sport.”
The documentary has recently aired on BBC3 and is presented by Amal Fashanu. Amal Fashanu’s uncle is Justin Fashanu, who was an openly gay footballer. After he came out he received a lot of abuse for being gay and ultimately committed suicide in the late 1990s. In the documentary Ms Fashanu confronts her father who was hostile to his brother after he revealed that he was gay.
The documentary features an interview with her father, John Fashanu, where he states, “I’m sick of the scandals that I hear day after day, I have a name to protect and my brother is tarnishing it. I wouldn’t even like to get changed in the same room as my brother, and I’m fairly sure the rest of the football world feels exactly the same way.”
Justin at the time commented about his brother’s remarks, “I thought he was a more tolerant man and I am disappointed that he feels this way.” In the documentary John says that he has certain regrets about his behaviour about his brother’s homosexuality and his reaction to it.