Football increasingly attracts representatives of sexual minorities. 14 players of the World Cup openly admitted that they are lesbians. Has women's football really become a shelter for homosexuals? - asks the newspaper "Lietuvos rytas".
Swiss striker Ramona Bachmann of the national team became the first to break another taboo at the Women's World Cup in Canada.
Scoring three goals against the Ecuadorian national team, the 24-year-old Swiss openly admitted that she has long belonged to a sexual minority.
"When we walked hand in hand with Camille in Switzerland, most people turned and watched us. However, such reactions are neither in Sweden, nor here, in Canada", - R.Bachmann told the newspaper "Sonntags-Blik".
14 players admitted
Since June 6, the seventh Women's World Cup is taking place in Canada, and the brave example of the Swiss has already inspired many participants.
In France, the "So Foot" magazine counted that 14 footballers out of 500 players publicly admitted that they are lesbians.
R.Bachmann belongs to the Swedish club "Rosengard", but the world does not end here in Scandinavia or Canada.
In many countries, representatives of sexual minorities still have to suffer because of their non-traditional orientation.
Africa - public accusations
Most accusations and intolerant attitudes towards lesbian footballers are caused in Africa.
Nigeria, Cameroon and Ivory Coast national teams represented the Black continent at the World Cup.
"We need to bring morality back to football and fight against homosexuality, if we want our sport to recover," former footballer Peggy Lucie Auleley is convinced. - I left the world of sports only because our activities were constantly overshadowed by bad things - lesbianism and corruption."
She openly presented these accusations against sexual minorities at a seminar on women's football held in Libreville in January 2015.
The 43-year-old Gabonese herself played football in the 19th century, and now she is a literature teacher and a very popular writer in Africa.
"The development of women's football in Gabon: strategy and action plan" - this was the name of the event supported by the country's Ministry of Sports, where lesbians were again the main target.
But Gabon, entangled between Congo and Equatorial Guinea, is certainly not the monopolist in the fight against sexual minorities in football on the Black continent.
Team - without lesbians
In recent years, homophobia has constantly accompanied Nigerian football leaders.
The former national team coach Eucharia Uche caused a scandal in 2011 by publicly admitting that there would never be lesbians in her team.
"Lesbians in our team were the biggest problem. But from the moment I became the national team coach, the problem was solved," E.Uche told the "New York Times". - There are no more lesbians in my team.
The players are now focused solely on football, as they know that football can provide them with fame, happiness and entertainment. And homosexuality only destroys all these hopes."
After several years, the head of the Nigerian Women's Soccer League, Dilichukwu Onyedinma, took up the banner of the fight against sexual minorities.
An African was preparing to officially ban lesbians from playing football in his country, but then FIFA intervened and cooled his ardor.
Europe - silent discrimination
Women's football even in European countries is still accompanied by a popular belief that it was supposed to be a sport for girls born with male traits, so inevitably only lesbians play it.
This word constantly circles regardless of the physical appearance of the players.
"We must be honest, so we cannot deny it.
Many girls came to football just because they can meet other women here," said French national team defender Camille Abilly. - When I started attending football training at fourteen, I don't even know why my parents agreed to this.
Everyone knew that it was more of a women's club there than a football team. But now it's no longer like that."
If such ideas have invaded the professional world, they have an even stronger impact on ordinary football fans.
Recently, girls from an amateur team were attacked at the Paris stadium because the coach working here did not like that representatives of sexual minorities played in his field.
The girls calling themselves "Degommeuses" introduced themselves as a "team of lesbians and friends of lesbians fighting for equal rights in sports".
"I put my balls on the line and shove them in your mouth. Go, watch, and applaud the lesbians!" - shouted the angry Frenchman quoted by "20 Minutes".
According to the "Degommeuses" girls, homophobic attacks constantly accompany them on the football field.
Lesbian players at the World Cup in Canada managed to avoid such humiliation. It is hoped that this will be the case in other countries. ("So Foot", LR)
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