Whilst respondents reported that the issue needs to be addressed on a smaller scale, 69% still felt that the Football Association should be doing more to prevent homophobia in the game in UK. It was noted that football grounds remain challenging environments for the LGBTQ+ community a third (33%) of fans said that they believed LGBTQ+ supporters weren’t made to feel welcome and accepted at matches, and nearly two thirds (63%) admitted they wouldn’t be confident confronting any of their team’s fans for using homophobic abuse. Nearly half of respondents in the survey (47%) reported that they would like to see more LBGTQ+ figures across all levels of the game – across players, managers and coaching staff, however, over a third (36%) felt that homophobia in the game was “not an issue”. So, despite 80% of fans revealing they would be uncomfortable hearing homophobic abuse at a game, around a third (30%) admit they would find two men kissing at a match uncomfortable.
To date, there are no players who feel comfortable coming out at the top levels of the professional men’s game in England. Speaking with 1,010 heterosexual football fans across the country, the YouGov survey exposed significant issues which still need to be addressed before the community reaches a level playing field in terms of acceptance. Just over one in three heterosexual football fans (37%) think the game is becoming a safer space for players to come out as LGBTQ+, new research reveals.Īs part of Paddy Power’s continuing commitment to kick out homophobia in football, we have joined forces with GAY TIMES to carry out the most authoritative survey yet into attitudes towards LGBTQ+ issues in the modern game.
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