Gay Pro Soccer Player Robbie Rogers To Join Los Angeles Galaxy

Perhaps we are indeed beginning to see a glacially slow change in pro sports.  First an openly gay member of the NBA.  Now a openly gay pro soccer player.  When will a member of the NFL come out?  This blog looked at soccer player Robbie Rogers back in February when he came out.  Unfortunately, he simultaneously announced his retirement.  But now, he is rejoining the pro sports world and is reported to have been signed by the Los Angeles Galaxy team.  USA Today has the story.  Here are excerpts:

Coming out and coming back — each was a difficult decision for Robbie Rogers, and one complicated the other. 

He told the world in February that he is gay and at the same moment said he was leaving soccer. Now, Rogers is reversing field and has agreed to terms with the Los Angeles Galaxy, according to two people familiar with the negotiations. Both spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because the Galaxy has not announced the deal.

Rogers will be the first active openly gay player in Major League Soccer. 

He also hopes to play for the U.S. national team in the 2014 World Cup — and to be the role model for gay teens that he wished he'd had.

Rogers' epiphany to return to the game came when he spoke to a group of about 500 kids at the Nike Be True LGBT Youth Forum in Portland last month.

"I seriously felt like a coward," he tells USA TODAY Sports in an exclusive interview about his return. "These kids are standing up for themselves and changing the world, and I'm 25, I have a platform and a voice to be a role model. How much of a coward was I to not step up to the plate?"

"I want to come back and be that voice, be that role model," Rogers says. "I want to compete on the field. I want to make it back to the national team. I want to be a role model. I have a lot of motivating factors working for me right now."  "There's a lot to be excited about. It's awesome to be part of a movement that is changing our society."

Needless to say, we will probably hear more hyperventilating and nastiness from the Christofascists who only feel good about themselves when denigrating and stigmatizing others.

Eight UK Footballers Say "we're gay" But Fear Coming Out

Robbie Rogers left Leeds United by mutual consent after declaring that he was gay.

As noted in prior posts, the NFL in America at times looks like a den of homophobes.   But the homophobia isn't limited to America or American football.  Football in the United Kingdom - soccer in this country - isn't without its own anti-gay atmosphere.  As The Guardian reports, there are at least eight (8) pro footballers in top teams in the UK who have confidentially admitted to being gay but who are too afraid of the potential blow back to come out.  As one who was closeted at work for years and then suffered career wise when I came out, I do understand their very real fears.  It is so sad that individuals still suffer from anti-gay bigotry that ultimately traces back to fear and ignorance based religious belief.  Here are highlights from The Guardian article:

At least eight professional footballers have revealed to colleagues that they are gay, but have refused to go public because they fear a backlash from fans.

This latest evidence that British football remains a homophobic environment comes after Jason Collins, a high-profile American basketball star, became the first player from a US professional sports league to reveal that he was gay.

In Britain, no professional footballer has come out and continued his career since Justin Fashanu in 1990. He stopped playing in 1994, but hanged himself four years later, aged 37. Fashanu had said that he had not been prepared for the backlash that followed his disclosure, and that his football career suffered "heavy damage" as a consequence.

Earlier this year, Robbie Rogers, an American playing for Leeds United, left the club by "mutual consent" after announcing that he was gay. Rogers, 25, said at the time that remaining in football after declaring that you were gay was "impossible". Last week it emerged that he had left England and was training with the Los Angeles Galaxy football team in the US.

Gay campaigners told the Observer that Clarke Carlisle, chairman of the Professional Footballers' Association, had revealed that eight players had approached him to disclose that they were gay. Seven told him that the reason they would not reveal their sexual orientation publicly was not the reaction from the dressing room or club, but the potential reaction from the media and supporters.

The issue of homophobia within football is gradually gaining political momentum, with Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, describing the absence of openly gay professional footballers in the UK as "outrageous", while two weeks ago MPs tabled a parliamentary debate calling on clubs, supporters and football authorities to eradicate homophobic chanting.

Stonewall, the gay charity, has conducted research finding that 60% of supporters believe that anti-gay abuse from fans dissuades players from coming out. The organisation is working closely with the FA and PFA as part of the Kick it Out campaign to rid the game of homophobia. Andrew Wasley of Stonewall said: "There are signs that things are getting much better – at clubs such as West Ham and Arsenal in particular. But there are also gay people who are worried about what to do. The whole game needs to be much more open."

Having been totally "out"  for over nine years socially and professionally, I cannot imagine going back in the closet.  It wastes so much energy and wears one down.   And not surprisingly, studies have shown that LGBT individuals are far more productive when not in the closet and living in fear of discovery.

Top German Football Agent Claims There are 'a Bunch of Gays' on the World Cup Team

I recent wrote a blog post about a soap opera in Argentina that involves closeted soccer stars that has prompted some to speculate on how many actual world cup players might be living such lives (I have watched some You Tube clips from the show and it's actually rather good and seems to accurately depict the mental anguish of the closeted and married soccer star). Now, as if intentionally throwing gas on that fire, a top German football agent claims that there are "a bunch of gays' on the World Cup Team shown in the photo above and detailed here. Obviously, we all know that gay soccer players exist - just like we exist in every other profession and field of endeavor. The Guardian has coverage on this new bomb shell. Here are some highlights:
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German football was engulfed in controversy today over remarks by the agent of a top footballer, who allegedly referred to a "bunch of gays" in the national team.
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Michael Becker, who has been the agent of German national football captain Michael Ballack for more than a decade, is reported to have made the comment in the latest edition of the news magazine Der Spiegel.
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In an essay entitled New German Men, Aleksander Osang recounts an interview he had with Becker prior to the World Cup in which the agent allegedly told him which of the players in the team were gay. He later said that a former national player was ready to reveal the "bunch of gays" in the German team, according to Osang. Asked about the sexuality of one of the newer players, Becker, who is a lawyer by profession, referred to him as being "half gay".

Osang went on to say that Becker put the new adroit, lighter and elegant style of play that has become a trademark of trainer Joachim Löw's players down to their homosexuality, . . .
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According to Der Spiegel, when Becker made his remarks about the "bunch of gays" he expected the ears of fellow journalists present to "prick up". "But they only nodded placidly," said Osang. "All sports journalists seemed to already know the alleged homosexual conspiracies enveloping Löw's team. The rumours accompanied our team to South Africa and evidently belong to the team."
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But the comments have raised concerns that homosexuality remains one of the major taboos in the footballing world. The only German footballer to have outed himself as gay is the former regional league player for Erfurt Marcus Urban, and that was only after his professional career was over. Experts estimate that around 10 per cent of all Bundesliga professionals are gay.

Argentine TV’s Gay Soccer Storyline Prompts Real World Speculation

Following the World Cup competition has been almost an erotic endeavor given the sexual appeal and eroticism of some of the gorgeous players from around the world. Now a soap opera in Argentina featuring two gay professional soccer players is prompting speculation that the characters may, in fact, be based on real life figures in the sport. Obviously, gays are in all areas of society and many of us are athletic to varying degrees. Hence there is no reason that professional soccer players could not be gay. Nonetheless, with the ongoing battle in the Argentine Senate for the approval of gay marriage, it is interesting that rumors based on this popular TV show are surfacing now. Here are highlights from Rumor Rat:
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On the field, Manuel and Lalo are soccer teammates in the hit primetime Argentine soap “Botineras.” But off the fictional field, and inside the fictional locker room, let’s just say things are getting complicated when it comes to the question of which team the two play for.
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It would seem that the Argentine public’s fascination with this pair of papis and their romantic storyline goes beyond fiction and into the real world of the country’s most macho sport.
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The entire country is abuzz with whispers that the gay plot is pulled from reality, and futboll fans everywhere in South America are wondering if the story might be based on the real-life sexploits of a handful of the sport’s biggest stars. It’s causing lots of whispers about whose team some soccer players are really on, if you get The Rat’s drift.
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Off the set of “Botineras,” the two actors who play Manuel and Lalo (Cristiano Sancho & Ezequiel Castaño) happen to be as straight as a soccer goal line, but on screen they certainly give convincing performances. And the viewers love it enough to make the show’s one of the country’s top-rated. If only we knew how many of its millions of viewers happen to be pro ballers.
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A video clip from the show can be found here on You Tube.

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World Cup Mania

I will be the first to admit that outside of sports in which I participate myself - snow skiing, surfing, figure skating, water skiing - I truly did NOT get the sports gene. Add to that the fact that big, lumbering, overly muscle bound (or fat guys in the case of some American football players) just don't do it for me, and it's easy to see why you won't find me glued to the sofa during football season. Indeed, I much prefer leaner, yet toned types of guys. Like swimmers and soccer players. As a result I view soccer as a far more titillating sport than American football which I view as a modified form of thuggish Roman gladiator games absent the penalty of death for the losing contestants. Of course to make a justification for my preference I can also rely on The Advocate's new piece entitled "15 Gay Reasons to Watch the World Cup." My favorite reason (other than Cristiano Ronaldo pictured above, of course):
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15. Because of the um, athleticism. Sure, there's tons of eye candy, but soccer is a tough sport, more so than American football with all the padding and the amount of time it takes to set up plays. Watch the World Cup for the pure sport of it! And surely a couple of entertaining fights will break out along the way. .

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Enjoy the games! :)

Iran Bans Election Protest Soccer Players

In a demonstration of just how petty and childishly vindictive the current Iranian Islamic government can be, the Telegraph is reporting that four members of Iran's World Cup players – Ali Karimi, 31 (pictured above), Mehdi Mahdavikia, 32, Hosein Ka'abi, 24 and Vahid Hashemian, 32 – have been "retired" from the sport after their gesture against the rigged election in last Wednesday's match against South Korea in Seoul. I sincerely hope that these men remain safe in to Iran, although personally, I might have thought twice about returning at least at the present time. Here are some highlights:

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Their gesture attracted worldwide comment and drew the attention of football fans to Iran's political turmoil. Now the country's authorities have taken revenge by imposing life bans on players who sported green wristbands in a recent World Cup match in protest against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election.

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According to the pro-government newspaper Iran, four players – Ali Karimi, 31, Mehdi Mahdavikia, 32, Hosein Ka'abi, 24 and Vahid Hashemian, 32 – have been "retired" from the sport after their gesture in last Wednesday's match against South Korea in Seoul.

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Most of the players obeyed instructions to remove the armwear at half-time, but Mahdavikia wore his green captain's armband for the entire match. The four are also said to have been banned from giving media interviews.

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The fate of the other two players who wore the wristbands is unknown. None of the team members were given back their passports upon returning to Tehran after the match, which ended in a 1-1 draw – a result that ended Iran's hopes of qualifying for next year's tournament.

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Iran's hardline media have since linked the protest to the arrest on Saturday of Mohsen Safayi Farahani, who headed the country's football governing body under the former reformist president, Mohammad Khatami. He is one of several dozen opposition politicians, intellectuals and journalists to have been detained.

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My thoughts and prayers will be with these brave men who dared to tell the world their views.

Sevilla midfielder Antonio Puerta dies

This is a strange and sad story. How and why he had a heart attack at age 22 has yet to be explained. My thoughts and condolences go out to his family and expectant girl friend. Here's a part of the International Herald Tribune's coverage:

SEVILLE, Spain: Sevilla midfielder Antonio Puerta died Tuesday, three days after collapsing on the field during his team's Spanish league match against Getafe. Puerta died of "multiple organ failure stemming from prolonged cardiac arrest" and subsequent coronary problems, Virgen del Rocio Hospital director Gimeno Guerrero said in a statement.

The 22-year-old Puerta had been in an intensive care unit since Saturday and had been given assisted ventilation but his condition worsened Tuesday, the hospital said. Puerta lost consciousness and fell near his own goal Saturday in the 31st minute, but was able to walk off minutes later after being treated by team doctors. But doctors said he had a heart attack in the locker room, and at least one more in the emergency room of the Seville hospital where he was taken.