Former England international Jermaine Jenas has claimed that footballers are afraid to publicly announce they are gay due to fears of reactions from opposition fans.
The 32-year-old made the comments in a column for Yahoo Sport after recent newspaper revelations that two Premier League footballers, one of whom has played for England, were to announce they were gay before the start of next season.
Jenas feels any player who wanted to reveal they were gay would have the support of their team mates. "The place a gay player would get the most support - and the least amount of problems - is from their team-mates. 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."
The former Tottenham midfielder revealed that he had received homophobic abuse from opposition fans when playing for the North London club. "When I played against Arsenal, I'd take a corner and their fans would be shouting, "Ashley's (Cole) boyfriend" - bearing in mind Cole had moved to Chelsea by that point so the fans didn't like him either."
Jenas revealed that after moving from Newcastle to Tottenham, there were unsubstantiated rumours that he was dating pop star Will Young and former Arsenal defender Sol Campbell.
Jenas feels the first player to come out in England will be seen as a "pioneer" and hopes the reaction will be different to that received by Justin Fashnau. The former striker died by suicide seven years after revealing he was gay.
The football world has seen players reveal they are gay. LA Galaxy defender Robbie Rogers retired aged 25 when he announced he was gay, before returning to the game and joining the MLS side, and has since won an MLS Cup with the team. Former German international Thomas Hitzlsperger also announced he was gay after retiring from the game.
Other sports have seen players announce they are gay and continue to play in their sport. Former Wales and Lions captain Gareth Thomas announced he was gay in 2009 when playing for the Cardiff Blues. Donal Óg Cusack is the most high profile Irish sports star to come out. He did so in 2009 when playing for Cork's hurlers.
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