Anton Hysén told the Swedish football magazine "Offside" in an interview that he is gay and Footballer - and that's no contradiction at all
And it does move! What many thought was impossible has now happened: A professional footballer has come out of the closet. The 20-year-old Swedish player Anton Hysén told the Swedish football magazine "Offside": "I'm a footballer - and I'm gay. As long as I perform at my best, it doesn't matter whether I like women or men."
As relaxed as that may sound, Hysén is well aware that he is now leading the way for others in football following his courageous step. And he himself is surprised to be the only professional in the Swedish league who is openly gay. "It's sick when you think about it. Where the hell are the others?"
The son of Swedish football star Glenn Hysén played in the first division with FC BK Häcken until recently and is now playing for fourth division club Utsiktens BK from Gothenburg after a lengthy injury lay-off. However, observers predict a future for the 20-year-old.
He is aware that this could now be in danger. "It could be that a club shows interest in me. And then the coach hears that I'm gay and they change their mind about me." Nevertheless, he was happy to come out. From his point of view, his orientation is no longer his problem, but that of the club he works for.
The best-known openly gay footballer in Germany is Marcus Urban. He played professionally for Rot-Weiss-Erfurt until the early 1990s, but only came out three years ago in his book "Versteckspieler". In it, he wrote that he himself was aware of three openly gay footballers in the Bundesliga.
It remains to be seen whether they will be encouraged by Hysén's behaviour.
(pasch)
