Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud believes football is still a long way from accepting openly gay footballers.
Homosexuality still seems like something of a taboo subject within the game, despite many other walks of life now embracing it.
Giroud told Le Figaro that it is an issue that still exists, with the macho nature of the dressing room environment not helping:
When I saw Thomas Hitzlsperger come out back in 2014, it was very emotional. It was at this time that I thought that it is impossible to be openly homosexual in football.
In the dressing room, there is a lot of testosterone, teasing and collective showers. It is delicate, but that is how it is.
I can understand the pain and the difficulty for guys in coming out – it is a real challenge and it takes years of work on yourself.
When I joined Montpellier, I got involved in the fight for tolerance and was on the cover of [French gay magazine] Tetu. At Arsenal, when asked, I wore rainbow laces in support of the gay community.
It is a sad state of affairs that a gay footballer should still have such a dilemma with regards to coming out.
Sadly, it is understandable why an individual would approach the situation with such trepidation, though, given the reaction that could follow.
