Can Homosexuals Play Football too?

There's not much to say, thanks to the homophobia that has hung over the game like an iron curtain.

Until now...

This month Anton Hyséna left-sided midfielder openly came out as a gay footballer, he plays in Swedish fourth division. The only other footballer who has came out as gay was back in 1990 with Justin Fashanu, who eventually hanged himself, eight years later after been shunned by the footballing world. Let's hope the football world has changed 20 years later and that Anton Hysén does not suffer the same horrible fate as Justin Fashanu.

Comments from Vlatko Markovic, the head of the Croatian football federation suggest that football has not progressed much even in such countries that are considered to be a part of the developed world “as long as I’m president, there will be no gay players. Thank goodness only healthy people play football.”

On the other side of the curtain Mario Gomez German international and Bayern Munich's star striker urged gay players to come out and to break the last "taboo" "

We've got a gay vice-chancellor [Guido Westerwelle]; the Berlin mayor [Klaus Wowereit] is gay. So professional footballers should own up to their preference

On March 9, 2011,a TV programme called "Får även bögar spela fotboll?" ("Can homosexuals play football too?") was shown on TV4, with Anton the subject of it. Anton's father is former Liverpool defender and Swedish international Glenn Hysén. Anton coming out is the equivalent of say Nemanja Vidic's son coming out.

To celebrate and add to the momentum of Gomez urging gay footballers to come out, here are a series of photographs to celebrate gay footballers. We will start with a sexy photograph of the Italian football team, where recently a third division player claimed that he worked as a gigolo and had slept with many Series A players.