Germany’s women’s national team coach Christian Wück sees female players as role models when it comes to handling homosexuality in his sport. “Even there, men may need to learn a bit more from the women. I think with the women it’s quite normal,” said the 52-year-old former pro at a DFB press conference ahead of the World Cup qualifying matches for the women’s team against Austria.
Earlier, men’s national team coach Julian Nagelsmann had spoken out in favor of an open approach to homosexuality in football following the coming-out of FC St. Pauli’s youth coach Christian Dobrick (Queer.de reported). “I find it very unfortunate that we still have to discuss this,” Nagelsmann told RTL/ntv in an interview. “It’s a pity that you have to ask me this question.” Homosexuality is, for him, something completely normal.
St. Pauli’s U19 coach had recently made his own homosexuality public and linked it to criticisms of male top football (Queer.de reported). “In professional football, gays are still considered outsiders,” said the 29-year-old youth coach of the Hamburg-based Bundesliga club in interviews with Stern and RTL.
Wück: Maybe someday it will be normal
“In men’s football, this is perhaps the first time something like this has happened. At the beginning, it’s always hard,” Wück said and expressed the hope: “Maybe football in general will someday become normal.”
Homosexuality remains a taboo topic in men’s professional football, even though fan representatives in particular advocate for a more open approach. In the top three German leagues there has so far been no coming-out by an active professional. In women’s football, however, the sexual orientation of a player has long ceased to matter.
