News

The European Gay and Lesbian Sports Federation (EGLSF) made clear its support today for FC Midtjylland, the Danish Superliga Club, which earlier this week sacked goalkeeper Arek Onyszko following homophobic comments made in his autobiography. These comments include the statement "I hate gays, I really do. I think it’s f****** disgusting to hear them talk to each other as if they are girls. I can’t be in the same room as someone who’s gay. Look at them kissing each other – it’s sickening." Co-President of the EGLSF Pepe Garcia-Vazquez says: “We welcome this move by FC Midtjylland to make a [...]

Last Wednesday, Créteil Bébel was excluded from its championship by our league, the Football Leisure Activities Committee [Commission Football Loisirs – CFL]. The CFL took its responsibilities and punished the club of Créteil Bébel in the same way as it condemns, and punishes of exclusion, all violent behavior, coming from players or from managers, contributing to make of its championships, competitions where the term « sporting spirit » still means something. Contrary to what the team had hoped, the players of Créteil Bébel have just announced that they were refusing to play, under the same shirt as them, a big [...]

This week the Irish and UK press has been full of news that one of the great stars of Irish Hurling has come out as gay. Donal Óg Cusack, the Cork Goalkeeper makes the revelation in his autobiography Come What May, published today by Penguin Ireland. Support from the sports governing body the Gaelic Athletics Association (GAA) has been met by a generally positive response throughout the country by hurling fans. Sandra Gowran, Director of Education Policy at the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network in Ireland says: “It is fantastic news. The GAA is a stronghold of traditional Ireland, so [...]

This week sees a new round of UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League matches across Europe - and the fight against racism will be the focal point at stadiums throughout the continent, as UEFA gives its full support to Europe’s biggest anti-racism campaign which kicked-off last week. UEFA has been a core supporter of the Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) network since a formal agreement was signed in 2001, and as the relationship has grown, so have the number and scale of anti-racism activities at European matches. European football’s governing body has a zero tolerance policy towards racism [...]