Bookmaker condemned for offering odds on the first footballer to come out
By Will Stroude
An online bookmaker has drawn condemnation for offering odds on the first English footballer to come out.
After it was reported last weekend that an England international player and a Premier League star were planning to become the first active British players to come out publicly after telling their friends, family and clubs, online betting firm Win Cash Live was quick to jump on the speculative bandwagon and begin offering odds on who the players in question might be.
What those odds are based on Lord knows, but one of those listed – Manchester United star Luke Shaw – has already been quick to deny that he was one of the players in question when the story broke last Saturday.
Win Cash Live has been promoting it page on its Twitter page with hashtag ‘#gayfootballer’.
LGBT charity Stonewall have already branded the site’s new offer “a boring PR stunt”.
“Homophobia in sport is a real issue that should be challenged,” a spokesperson said. “Not cashed in on and trivialised”.
https://twitter.com/wincashlive/status/658971796457287681
Win Cash Live founder Ashley Faull said of the backlash: “We think it is a shame that the culture in football has made it so difficult for gay players to come out.
“We do not want to cause offence and are not seeking to trivialise the coming out of a gay England footballer, but it is the kind of high profile unpredictable market which Win Cash Live customers would expect us to offer odds on.”
Meanwhile, former Arsenal star Thierry Henry has been quick to voice his support for any potential closeted players, saying that seeing a Premiership footballer come out publicly would be “great” for the game – click here to watch his interview in full.
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