Sports Minister: We must do all we can to tackle homophobia in football
Minister for Sport and Equalities Helen Grant has welcomed news that 15 out of 20 Premier League clubs are now supporting a leading anti-homophobia initiative.
Football v Homophobia (FvH) announced on Monday that a majority of league football clubs in England and Wales have also backed the campaign to tackle homophobia in football.
Mrs Grant said: “I am pleased that the majority of teams in the top tier of English football and the FA have backed the Football vs Homophobia campaign.
“Football is our national sport and we must do all we can to tackle any sort of discrimination in the game. I hope the campaign continues to go from strength to strength.”
The FA’s General Secretary, Alex Horne, added: “We’re delighted to see so many clubs – across the professional and grassroots games – getting involved in Football v Homophobia’s 2014 month of action and taking a stand against homophobia, biphobia and transphobia.
“The FA believes that everyone, whatever their background, should be able to enjoy participating in football free from fear of discrimination and abuse. Congratulations to FvH for their hard work on the 2014 campaign.”
Despite the positive development homophobia in football continues to be a huge problem.
The programme reveals footage of children joining in with the behaviour.
Andy Holt, the most senior police officer responsible for policing football in England said it showed a lot more needed to be done.
