Deeney: ‘There is probably one gay or bi person in every football team’

The 31-year-old star who seem to be a supporter of the LGBTQ community, thinks there is now a bigger platform than ever, for them to be out as professional athletes.

In an Interview on BBC Podcast, Grounded with Louis Theroux, Deeney further explained that it is not right for athletes to wait until they retire to announce their sexuality.

He said:

“I would go on record saying that there is probably one gay or bi person in every football team. They’re there, they are 100 per cent there.

“I think people that are gay or from that community definitely are very worried about having to shoulder the responsibility of being the first. I think once the first comes out, there would be loads.

“If they came out and said it, I genuinely believe you would get, in the first week, at least 100 people that went ‘me too’. Just because they don’t want to be the face of it.”

“I think there is now a bigger platform than ever to be a gay athlete of any nature.

“I also wonder why people finish football, rugby, whatever the sport it might be, and then go ‘I am gay’. I feel like it must be a real heavy load to carry throughout all your whole sporting career.”

While the women football are filled with out gays and bisexuals, the case is not the same with their male counterparts.

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The first male footballer to have come out as gay, was Former Norwich and Nottingham Forest striker Justin Fashanu.

But tragically, he hanged himself in a deserted garage after being accused of sexual assault in 1998.