German football has long been overlooked by fans in other countries.
Despite its national team reaching the later stages of a plethora of international competitions, its communal approach to ownership of teams, and reasonable admissions prices, supporters don't quite rate the Bundesliga as much as its English, Spanish or Italian counterpart.
Yet, the players in the German league seem way ahead of its more "glamorous" rivals in one area - that of LGBT inclusion.
For years Hamburg-based St Pauli have proved that it not only what happens on the field which makes a club great.
Behind the banner of a skull and crossbones and with its fan base of punks, prostitutes and political activists, it helped bring the anti-racism and anti-homophobia agenda to the footballing table.
But it is not just a small corner of Germany's second largest city which is promoting equality within the world's favourite sport.
Bayern Munich striker Mario Gomez has urged gay colleagues to come out.
In an interview with celebrity magazine Bunte, the German international said homosexuality was treated as a "taboo topic" in mens' sports.
"They would then play as though they'd been unshackled," the 25-year-old added.
"We have a gay Vice-Chancellor, Berlin's mayor is gay - professional football players should commit to their inclination," Gomez said.
They are refreshing words to come from such a high-profile player.
After all this is the player who is a former German soccer player of the year, a player who is still revered in Stuttgart for his goals which brought the side the Bundesliga in 2006/7.
Much like Florent Malouda, the reasons for the statement from Gomez is open to debate.
To speculate on his motives would be to simply discredit what is a positive statement to promoting equality within the world's favourite sport.
What is not speculative is that Gomez has been extremely brave in making the comments.
Despite his position as an established international, he has yet to live up to his hefty price tag for Bayern Munich.
Bavaria is also not exactly known as a place of open liberal thought so quite how the fans at the Allianz Arena will greet them will be interesting to see.
What makes them braver is that they come after international teammate Tim Wiese warned in April that any gay player who revealed his sexuality would be ridiculed by "merciless fans".
Additionally, Bayern teammate Philipp Lahm told Playboy last year that the pressure would be too great for players to be openly homosexual.
While it is clear how we feel about this, the important thing is that in Germany they are actually having a debate.
This is sort of public discourse that needs to happen in every country as if people keep on shying away from something it will never fully be tackled.
For that we praise all those professionals who are actively discussing the issue in Germany. On this issue, much like the single currency, it appears the Germans are leading the way.
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Showing posts with label florent malouda. Show all posts
Showing posts with label florent malouda. Show all posts
Saturday, 13 November 2010
Friday, 22 October 2010
Finally some honesty
Waking up this morning to a phone filled with unanswered texts and emails it was clear something had happened.
The reason: a frank and brutally honest interview by Chelsea's French winger Florent Malouda.
For those of you who have not seen the comments, they have been reproduced in full below.
When asked about homophobia in football he said:
"Before people couldn't even speak about that like they were rejecting it and saying it is not existing.
"People who do it are wrong, hiding behind religion to explain their behaviour against gays, but you have to accept people as they are and once you understand that, you understand our differences are our strength."
To reiterate, this is THE Florent Malouda, one of the best players in the world.
The significance of a top player admitting the denigration of people because of their sexuality cannot be understated.
Credit must also be given to the press team at Chelsea who did not think "oh no we cannot possibly publish this" but actually allowed a player to speak his mind.
Could it be that football club's attitudes are becoming more aligned to the rest of society?
In the interview, which focused on Kick It Out's One Game, One Community week of action, the eloquent Malouda was also very frank about fighting racism on the terraces.
He stated: "You have to prove to others they are wrong and don't accept it. You have to face these people and even if it is a battle, if you have to struggle, you have to prove that there is only one race and that they are wrong to doubt you.
"You have to speak about it. You cannot act like it does not exist."
These are statements about equality which have not been heard before from such a high profile player.
Quite why Malouda felt the need to issue such strong statements is not known.
The recent protesting in France shows that our Gallic cousins do things a little differently when it comes to disagreements with the authorities.
Perhaps it was Malouda, who was brought up in South America, feels he wants to give something back to the beautiful game to which he owes so much.
Or maybe the winger has witnessed homophobic abuse first hand.
It might just be that he sees now - he's 30, in the best form of his life and captain of his adopted country - as the right time to speak his mind.
Whatever the reason perhaps the tide, at last, is turning.
The reason: a frank and brutally honest interview by Chelsea's French winger Florent Malouda.
For those of you who have not seen the comments, they have been reproduced in full below.
When asked about homophobia in football he said:
"Before people couldn't even speak about that like they were rejecting it and saying it is not existing.
"People who do it are wrong, hiding behind religion to explain their behaviour against gays, but you have to accept people as they are and once you understand that, you understand our differences are our strength."
To reiterate, this is THE Florent Malouda, one of the best players in the world.
The significance of a top player admitting the denigration of people because of their sexuality cannot be understated.
Credit must also be given to the press team at Chelsea who did not think "oh no we cannot possibly publish this" but actually allowed a player to speak his mind.
Could it be that football club's attitudes are becoming more aligned to the rest of society?
In the interview, which focused on Kick It Out's One Game, One Community week of action, the eloquent Malouda was also very frank about fighting racism on the terraces.
He stated: "You have to prove to others they are wrong and don't accept it. You have to face these people and even if it is a battle, if you have to struggle, you have to prove that there is only one race and that they are wrong to doubt you.
"You have to speak about it. You cannot act like it does not exist."
These are statements about equality which have not been heard before from such a high profile player.
Quite why Malouda felt the need to issue such strong statements is not known.
The recent protesting in France shows that our Gallic cousins do things a little differently when it comes to disagreements with the authorities.
Perhaps it was Malouda, who was brought up in South America, feels he wants to give something back to the beautiful game to which he owes so much.
Or maybe the winger has witnessed homophobic abuse first hand.
It might just be that he sees now - he's 30, in the best form of his life and captain of his adopted country - as the right time to speak his mind.
Whatever the reason perhaps the tide, at last, is turning.
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