British Soccer to Fight Homophobia
The governing body of English UK soccer, the Football Association (FA), has agreed to fund a video and DVD featuring high-profile premier league players speaking out against homophobia.
The idea was put to the FA several months ago by Peter Tatchell, of gay rights group OutRage!, as way of challenging the anti-gay abuse hurled by fans at star players like Ashley Cole and Sol Campbell (see below).
At a meeting at the FA headquarters in Soho Square, London, Tatchell's proposals were discussed by the FA and its partner equality and diversity organisation, Kick It Out, with the backing of the Professional Footballers' Association, which represents Britain's top players.
This proposal is now agreed and funding committed. The search is on for an advertising agency to write a script and produce the anti-homophobia video. "After years of lobbying, the FA has agreed to approach top footballers to make a MTV-style video against homophobia," Tatchell said in a statement.
"The plan is to feature big-name stars speaking out against homophobia, in order to make anti-gay chants look as stupid, ignorant and uncool as racist ones. A wish list football stars includes David Beckham.
Tatchell would like to see the FA broadcast this on TV, at matches on giant stadium screens, on YouTube and distribute copies to schools. "Our aim is to 'Give homophobia the boot' - to kick anti-gay prejudice off the pitch and out of the terraces," he said. "We believe this video will help challenge bigoted attitudes among fans.
The video would also be a world first, since no other football governing body has even attempted anything like it.
"Although it is only a minority of homophobic fans who are creating problems, they are quite sizeable and vociferous," Tatchell said. "Many gay spectators currently feel threatened and excluded. It is also a turn off for straight families to be surrounded by aggressive, homophobic hooligans."
The two groups also want the FA to impose big fines and match suspensions on players and managers who use anti-gay insults; have officials identify homophobic fans; and have police arrest and evict - as they do racist fans.
Gay groups are especially angry at the appointment of Phil Scolari to manage the hugely popular London soccer club Chelsea. He had stated that he would refuse to have a gay player in his team.
"The FA should have not allowed him to take up his post until he renounced discrimination and gave an undertaking to abide by the FA's equality policies," Tatchell complained. "If Scolari had said that black players were banned from his team, there would have been uproar. He would have been immediately ruled out of the running for the Chelsea managership. Why the double standards?"
Abuse at Players
Spurs' fans at the Tottenham v Portsmouth match on 28 September 2008 subjected Sol Campbell to a torrent of homophobic abuse. This and previous anti-gay insults against Sol included:
"Sol, Sol, wherever you may be / You're on the verge of lunacy / And we don't give a f*ck if you're hanging from a tree / You Judas c*nt with HIV."
"He's big, he's black. He takes it up his crack. Sol Campbell, Sol Campbell."
Throughout 2006 Arsenal fans taunted Ashley Cole about his sexuality, chanting "Ashley Cole is a rent boy" and other homophobic jibes.
They also printed out fake ?20 notes, which replaced the image of Queen Elizabeth with an image of a tiara-wearing Ashley Cole in drag.
In the United State, the New York Rangers hockey team's managers have vowed to fight homophobia after an article in the New York Times pointed to a problem in the stands.