Homophobia has been widespread in men's association football , also known as soccer, throughout the world. In journalist Simon Barnes wrote that homophobia in football was entrenched and would never change, [ 2 ] and in journalist Matt Williams wrote that being a gay professional player in football was still a taboo, [ 3 ] Football magazine When Saturday Comes described homosexuality as a "continuing taboo" in the sport in In July , Quinn became the first openly transgender player at a World Cup.
The first male professional player to come out was Andy Brennan , who did so in May , when playing for Green Gully in the National Premier Leagues Victoria , a semi-professional league. In March , national team manager Ralf Rangnick dropped three players for homophobic chanting following a club game. In , Richarlyson was named on Brazilian television as gay by the administrative manager of a rival team.
When Richarlyson undertook legal action, the complaint was thrown out by the judge, who stated "football was a virile masculine sport and not a homosexual one. Jamerson Michel da Costa, nicknamed Messi , is the first Brazilian footballer who came out as homossexual while pursuing his professional career, in September In January , former Botafogo footballer Douglas Braga said that he had quit football aged 21 as it was not possible for him to be both gay and a footballer.
Many Brazilian footballers refuse to wear shirt number 24 for fear of being labelled as gay, as the number 24 is associated with homosexuality in Brazil. This derives from the number 24 in Jogo do bicho being assigned to the deer β veado in Portuguese, which sounds like viado , a slur for a gay man β and from the Portuguese for 24, vinte e quatro , sounding like vim de quatro "I came on all fours", making reference to the doggy style.
After the FIFA World Cup , a shout imported from Mexican fans "oooh, puto" was adopted as a sensation by several fan groups organized as "oooh, bicha" , shouted at rival team goal kicks. After interruptions due to homophobic demonstrations and the COVID crisis, the shout fell into disuse. Emerson Ferretti , historic goalkeeper for EC Bahia, was elected president of the club in Ferretti had declared himself homosexual in August In February , Sparta Prague and Czech Republic national team midfielder Jakub Jankto came out as gay, the first active men's international player to do so.
