FA Chair Greg Clarke admitted football has a "serious issue engaging with people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender," according to Mark Dobson of the London GUARDIAN. Clarke, who previously claimed that players would face "significant abuse" if they came out while in the game, said that there was something "not right" about men’s football in this area. He said, "I have had conversations with the PFA (Professional Footballers' Association) and the LMA (League Managers Association) on this issue and we have talked about how we can encourage professional footballers who want to come out to come out in a safe space. We are trying to engage with them, to talk to them. But to be perfectly frank, they are reticent to engage with me. ... I've yet to meet one professional footballer who felt comfortable enough to put down a private meeting. ... You can talk to people from the women's game, which is inclusive, which is safe." There are "currently no openly gay footballers playing in the Premier League." Clarke said, "I was at the Women’s FA Cup final and it was great, inclusive -- there were gay people, straight people, transgender people, and it was a wonderful occasion. It is about when the men’s game starts to feel as inclusive as the women’s game -- then we are there." When asked how "far off he thought that was," Clarke replied, "Probably a couple of decades" (GUARDIAN, 5/15).
