The captain of Watford United Troy Deeney has revealed that every football team has at least one gay or bisexual player. He noted that people have not been hearing about them because those involved are worried about being the face of such a community.
While speaking on the delicate topic, Troy Deeney stressed that once a player comes up to say he is gay or bisexual, hundreds of others will come out to reveal that they are also gay or bisexual.
Being a gay or bisexual is still something male footballers don’t find it easy admitting unlike their female counterparts who have in a couple of occasions came out to reveal that they are lesbians or bisexual.
For instance, during the 2019 females World Cup, it was revealed that there were at least 41 female players and coaches who are openly lesbians or bisexual. While in the men World Cup in 2018, no player or coach admitted that he was gay or bisexual.
In recent times, there have been serious agitations against racial discrimination and widespread protest in almost every major country in the world. Football stars have also come out to add their voices but none of them felt bold enough to tell the world their sexual status because they don’t want to be discriminated.
Troy Deeney believes that this is actually the best time footballers who find themselves in such a community to come out and tell the world their sexual status.
“I would go on record saying that there is probably one gay or bi person in every football team. They’re there, they are 100 per cent there”, Deeney told BBC podcast.
“I think people that are gay or from that community definitely are very worried about having to shoulder the responsibility of being the first. I think once the first comes out, there would be loads.
“If they came out and said it, I genuinely believe you would get, in the first week, at least 100 people that went ‘me too’. Just because they don’t want to be the face of it.
“I think there is now a bigger platform than ever to be a gay athlete of any nature. I also wonder why people finish football, rugby, whatever the sport it might be, and then go ‘I am gay’. I feel like it must be a real heavy load to carry throughout all your whole sporting career.”
Troy Deeney and his own wars
This is not the first time Troy Deeney has dived into a controversial topic. The 31-year-old was among the very few footballers who came out to say he would not resume training amid the coronavirus pandemic.
On 25 June 2012, the Watford star was sentenced to ten months’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to a charge of affray, having attacked a group of students outside a nightclub. He was however released three months after. The Watford star said the cancer-related death of his father in May 2012 influenced him to carry out such an art.
Also, the Premier League star was everywhere in the news in 2018 for allegedly cheating on his wife, Stacey Deeney. He has been dating Stacey when he was 15 years old and they got married in 2014. The marriage went sour before he turned 30. But before then, they have had two kids – a son, Myles, and a daughter, Amelia.
