Italy coach Cesare Prandelli has spoken openly about gay players ‘coming out’ leading to division of opinion amongst the ranks of current and former players with Antonio Di Natale disagreeing with the issue, while Diego Milito fully supports it.
After writing the foreword to Il Campoine Innamorato -The Champion in Love, a book about homosexuality in football, Prandelli encouraged players in the closet to come out and break the taboo around this issue.
Inter striker Milito stated, “I agree with what Prandelli said. Personally I’ve never realised if any of my teammates lived with this type of secret. If they did, it would be wrong to keep silent.”
“I am sure that the fans, teammates and sponsors would continue to love the football player and couldn’t care less about his private life. They would never, ever let such a situation weigh on him.”
In spite of the support both Milito and Prandelli appear to be in the minority in Italy, as last year Damiano Tommasi president of the AIC (Italian Players’ Association) suggested that players would be better to remain as they are.
Udinese captain Di Natale added, “Professionally I really respect Prandelli and I care about him as a person, but I do not agree with him. Breaking the taboo on homosexuality in the world of football is a difficult, if not impossible, task. I ask: how would the fans react? We cannot predict everyone’s reaction.”
“I’m sorry, but I do not share the choice of making such an important private situation into a public issue. Our world, in certain aspects, is very complex.”
The 1982 World Cup winner and former Juventus star Antonio Cabrini also gave his view on coming out in the contempory world of football.
“Coming out is up to each individual, but clearly the world of football is not exactly ideal to declare your sexuality, as it would certainly bring problems. In stadiums there is so much ignorance on the theme of diversity. You just have to look at how foreign players are treated, so imagine how a player would be insulted if he declared himself gay, not to mention the media pressure on the team and the club.”
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