The former German international Thomas Hitzlspergerwho in 2013 openly acknowledged his homosexuality, expressed this Wednesday that he “wished” that a colleague had his own “come out” (come out of the closet) in Qatar World Cupdespite recognizing that this is not the best time to do so.
“I would think it would be great if someone did it. But I don’t invite anyone to do it,” said the former soccer player, in the weekly ‘Die Zeit’ and amid the chaos caused by homophobic statements. of Qatari tournament ambassador and former international, Khalid Salman.
“It is certainly not the best time to do it,” added Hitzlsperger, because, according to him, “disputing a World Cup implies maximum concentration and an announcement of these qualities will completely divert attention from football.”
The former Aston Villa, Stuttgart, Lazio, West Ham, Wolfsburg and Everton player criticized the decision to award the World Cup to Qatar and described as “obscene” that stars such as David Beckham offered to promote it around the world multimillion-dollar exchange. income
Hitzlsperger came out as gay in 2013, a year after retiring, which became a milestone in football. Salman’s remarks, included in a highly critical report by German public television ZDF on Qatar, stunned the German government.
In addition to the term “mental illness”, Salman replied to the ZDF reporter that homosexuality is “haram” (forbidden by religion) and that children can learn something bad.
The German Minister of the Interior and Sports, Nancy Faeser, expressed her “shock” at Salman’s statements, calling homosexuality a “mental illness”, although she considered the safety of the visitors to the tournament guaranteed .
“The powers on this issue correspond to the Minister of the Interior and the Prime Minister of the country at the same time,” said the Social Democrat Faeser, who last week visited Qatar to discuss the protection of fans with his counterpart.
Germany’s Association of Lesbians and Homosexuals (LSVD), prior to the declarations by the Qatari ambassador and former soccer player, had already asked to outright discourage travel to Qatar. Now they have strengthened that demand and called for a diplomatic boycott of the World Cup and also issued a warning to travelers on the corresponding page of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Source: La Verdad
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