The chairman of the Professional Footballers’ Association – John Mousinho – has praised Blackpool youngster Jake Daniels for coming out as gay.
Daniels is the first openly gay active professional footballer in the UK since Justin Fashanu in 1990.
Mousinho can see there being a time in the future when players coming out will be normal.
Jake Daniels coming out as gay is pivotal in football’s ongoing battle with homophobia
Mousinho told the PA news agency: “Yes, I can, though I don’t think it’s going to be any time soon.
“Sometimes football is ahead of society and sometimes, in this case, football is behind society.
“These issues about someone coming out in my lifetime has moved on a huge amount but football is maybe 30-odd years behind. I think it will take time, hopefully not 30 years, but I can envisage that day. It will come, hopefully sooner rather than later.
“There are probably days if you rewind 30, 40 or 50 years where you couldn’t have envisaged the landscape as it is now.
“Hopefully it’s going to be the start of a much more inclusive game, especially on the men’s side. We already see it on the women’s side. The fact this is such big news is great but we also want to shift so these announcements are much more regular and normal.”
“When I saw him talking, I couldn’t believe that he’s 17 years old. I don’t know him, but I’m really proud of him.”
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp praises Jake Daniels for his bravery after he became the first active professional player to come out publicly as gay since 1990. pic.twitter.com/l4uWrDjTZ5
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) May 18, 2022
Daniels, 17, has been widely praised within football from clubs, including Manchester United, Manchester City and AC Milan, the PFA, the FA and former and current players, with England skipper Harry Kane tweeting his backing.
Support is clearly there, with Mousinho’s only concern the reaction from the terraces when Daniels plays in front of…
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