Support for gay footballer, but barriers remain

Support for gay footballer, but barriers remain

Jake Daniels was until Monday an unknown name in the football world, but that has changed rapidly. The player of Blackpool FC told to be gay and is now the talk of the town in England. 

The positive reactions to his club’s Twitter message are pouring in, including those from Prince William, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, former footballer Gary Lineker and England international Harry Kane. They all said they thought Daniels, who was only 17, was brave and supported him. 

“I want to become a role model with this,” says Daniels. 

Rivkah op het Veld, one of the creators of the NOS podcast De Schaduwspits, and also regularly an EFDN Conference host, thinks that Daniels coming out of the closet can also be important in the Dutch football world. 

“It is an extra support,” thinks Op het Veld. (…) “It’s been a year since a player from Australia (Josh Cavallo, ed.) came out of the closet, so that’s already a bit longer. And England feels closer too. But I do think that the players who are also considering coming out of the closet now first wait and see how Daniels is reacted to. Will he be supported or will he be booed in the stadiums?” 

According to Op het Veld, the fact that Daniels’ coming out of the closet is widely reported in the media can have both a positive and a negative effect on homosexual football players who are hesitant to reveal their orientation. 

“Not everyone is born to stand on the barricade. There are plenty of boys who just want to play football and don’t want all the attention. It does throw your whole life upside down. Those boys will have to ask themselves if they want to do that. (…)”On the other hand, you can see from all the media attention that it can really make a difference. (…) “You can be an example to boys and girls who watch your games.” 

Cavallo, currently the only other active professional player to come out openly for being gay, experienced both sides. He was widely supported, but was also a victim of homophobia last January. 

In addition to media attention, social media are also a barrier.

“The world may have become a bit more progressive, but you still get a lot of slurs on social media. The same happens in the stadiums. It’s very Dutch to use ‘homo’ as a swear word in choruses.” 

Op het Veld

According to Op het Veld, the possibility of getting a job abroad can also play a part in the consideration of not coming out of the closet. “For example, if you don’t have the talent to make it at a club like Barcelona, but you want to earn some money by playing in Qatar or the Emirates, it can be annoying if you are openly gay. I even think it’s already difficult in Italy.” 

Young boy or experienced rock 

Nevertheless, Op het Veld hopes that a footballer in the Netherlands will also follow Daniels’ example. “In the podcast we philosophised about what kind of footballer should be the first. And we came up with two options: an experienced footballer who has already earned his spurs and is already near the end of his career, or a young boy like Daniels for whom it is already more normal to come out of the closet.” 

“That is a younger generation, who have probably already grown up more with openly LGBTU+ people. They have had to deal with it in class, for example, and don’t find it very interesting to tell. And the fact that they happen to be footballers doesn’t matter to them.