During a recent match against Atletico, the Real Madrid striker clashed heads with opposing team midfielder Koke after he reportedly hurled a homophobic slur towards him, for which both players were given a yellow card.
Spanish radio station Cadena Cope, who claim to have overheard a conversation where Ronaldo recounted what had happened on the pitch to his teammates, report that Koke called him a “faggot”.
Ronaldo then reportedly fired back: “A faggot, yes, but a rich one, bastard.”
It’s not the first time the Portugese footballer has been targeted with homophobic abuse – back in April, sections of a Barcelona crowd were heard chanting “maricion” towards him, a derogatory word used to describe gay men.
The Spanish Observatory Against LGBT Phobia filed a formal complaint to Spain’s State Commission Against Violence In Sport.
They also criticised tabloids and sports journalists for spreading “malicious rumours” about Ronaldo’s sexuality in an attempt to “humiliate, offend and denigrate a great football player”.
The EGLSF is currently working on two Erasmus+ Projects, "Queering Football" and "Heroes of Football" to combat discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity and want to highlight that homophobia does not necessarily mean that people who suffer from homophobic abuse are homosexual.
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