English football has been far too slow to tackle an environment where homophobia is still sometimes “tolerated” and gay players are scared to come out, a parliamentary committee was told on Tuesday. The warning came from the former NBA star John Amaechi, who said he was in contact with Premier League players who were afraid to be open about their sexuality because they knew their clubs and managers would not be supportive. Amaechi, the first NBA player to come out in 2007, told MPs on the culture, media and sport select committee that there were “multiple” reasons why the gay Premier League players he knew had not come out, including fears of how they would be treated by their clubs. In October the FA chairman, Greg Clarke, told MPs that he was “personally ashamed” no gay players in the Premier League had felt able to come out, and cited a small minority of people who hurled vile abuse at players as being the main factor. Amaechi, who is black, admitted he was surprised to be still having a conversation about homophobia in sport.

Source: The Guardian November 08, 2016 17:28 UTC