Former Arsenal player: ‘It’s nuts for footballers to come out’
By Nick Levine
Former Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann has claimed it would be “nuts” for a currently playing gay footballer to reveal he is gay.
Lehmann, who played for the North London club between 2003 and 2008 and represented West Germany and Germany internationally some 67 times, was asked about footballers coming out by Sky in Germany.
“Anyone doing that would be nuts,” he said. “You can’t foresee what would happen. You can’t advise anyone to do so – they would no longer have fun playing football.”
Earlier this month (January) fellow former German international player Thomas Hitzlsperger (pictured right) revealed he is gay – four months after he had retired from professional football.
Asked how he would have felt if he had known Hitzlsperger was gay during their time as team-mates, Lehmann replied: “Strange, I think. You shower together every day, and there are times when it would be difficult. But Thomas Hitzlsperger is a player who never caused anyone to think that there is something – firstly because he is very intelligent and, secondly, because of his style of play.”
During the interview, Lehmann also predicted that any gay footballer brave enough to come out would face difficulties both on and off the pitch. “I know for sure that there would have been a few players, be it opponents or others in the dressing room, who would have permanently made jokes,” he explained.
“It’s not like there are 25 intellectuals who discuss whether someone’s gay or not. Football is a man’s sport, and you don’t have to think a lot, and you also can’t control the fans in the stadiums. As a [gay player], should you have to put up with all that?”