England’s coach encourages gay soccer players to come out

ROME (AP) — England coach Gareth Southgate hopes that gay soccer players “come out soon” because “it would have an enormous impact on society.” Southgate tells Italian newspaper La Repubblica ahead of the upcoming World Cup in Qatar that “teams and players wouldn’t have any problem with it.” He adds that “they would accept and embrace their teammates after a coming out” but that “footballers are afraid of the reactions outside and from the fans.” Southgate says that “European teams have never been as tolerant, multicultural and multi-religious as they are today.”