Retired leading professional footballer Paul Elliott has said homophobia is the next battle in football. In an interview with Metro, Elliott, who eschewed a possible coaching career to campaign for equal rights in sport, compares the situation for gay players with the situation for black players 25 years ago: “…we got abuse. It was hard to speak out; we were told to shut up and put up with it. That’s why I’m sympathetic to gay players”. He adds that no player would care if another player were gay, but that agents advise players to stay in the closet. What is needed, says Elliott, is a co-ordinated collective campaign to rid the sport of homophobia.
Elliott, who sits on the Inclusion and Diversity board of the London Olympic and Paralympic Committee and is a member of FARE (Football against Racism in Europe) and consults UEFA, also said there was concern for the reception of black players in Poland and the Ukraine in 2012.
The former Chelsea player made the headlines in 2008 when he said he knew of 12 professional players who were gay.