GERMANY: Top Footballer Mario Gomez Urges Gay Players To Come Out

Mario Gomez, one of Germany's most famous soccer stars, has urged gay players to come out, saying it would not only improve their game, it would better the sport.

Gomez, who has not said whether he is gay, told a German magazine that being honest about their sexuality would improve gay players' performance. "They would play as if they had been liberated," Gomez said. "Being gay should no longer be a taboo topic." The 25-year-old, who was voted German footballer of the year in 2006-7, added that there were plenty of role models in the rest of German society to give gay players the courage to come out. "We've got a gay vice-chancellor [Guido Westerwelle]; the Berlin mayor [Klaus Wowereit] is gay. So professional footballers should own up to their preference," he said. There are no openly gay players in Germany's Bundesliga, reflecting the situation across the football world, although it is estimated that about 10% of players are gay.

The German soccer federation has warned gay players not to come out, saying it would ruin their careers.

(Tipped by JMG reader Connie)