The former German national team soccer player, Mario Basler, still believes that a coming-out in Germany’s professional football remains almost impossible today. He said this on the podcast “Gestatten, von Sinnen!” hosted by comedian Hella von Sinnen. A “player who comes out would — I’m exaggerating a bit here — have no chance of surviving,” Basler said. “He would be destroyed.”
Von Sinnen (67) has been hosting the podcast since June. Each Friday a new episode drops, available to listen to and also to watch as a video. The lesbian entertainer talks with celebrities; previous guests include Mike Krüger and Evelyn Burdecki. The format is produced by Re*play, the podcast studio of Raab Entertainment (TheColu.mn reported).
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Gay players can expect a gauntlet
In the episode with Basler, von Sinnen asked how he experienced the topic during his active days. There must have been gay professionals back then as well, which was “not purely? possible” in percentage terms. Basler replied: “I can only say: I didn’t encounter it, I don’t know.” Guesses were, of course, made. “The problem was just that if you had come out as gay in the Bundesliga as a player, you would have immediately had to stop playing.”
He himself said he was open and tolerant toward the queer community. It was all the same to him, “whether a woman is lesbian or a man is gay. That doesn’t matter to me.” In football, however, coming out is still “almost not possible” today. Those affected can expect a “gauntlet.” He described the situation as “catastrophic,” because everyone should have the right to play sport regardless of their sexual orientation.
Kritik an Thomas Hitzlsperger
Von Sinnen also addressed Thomas Hitzlsperger. The former national player had publicly come out as gay in 2014 after his professional career ended. Basler said about it: “I thought it was great, but I didn’t like that he said players should come out if they’re still playing.” He asked, “Why didn’t he do it?” Hitzlsperger could have been such a role model. “He could have said a year earlier: ‘I am gay.’ He didn’t do that, and then to demand it from others, I didn’t think that was good.”
The host argued that with Hitzlsperger there was likely more “hope” than “desire” behind it. “It would be simply wonderful if more girls and boys in these high-profile professions came out, so that more changes could happen in society,” she said. Von Sinnen herself publicly came out as a lesbian in 1990. “We all know, after coming out, how much better life is, how much happier you live when you stand by the one you love.”
Basler in years past: “There are no gay professional footballers”
Basler, born in 1968 in Neustadt an der Weinstraße, played for Werder Bremen, Bayern Munich, 1. FC Kaiserslautern, and Hertha BSC. With Bremen he was the Bundesliga’s top scorer in 1995, with Bayern he won the German championship. He also claimed the DFB-Pokal and became European Champion in 1996. The free-kick specialist earned 30 international caps. After retiring, he worked as a coach and has since been known as a TV expert, notably on the Sport1 show “Doppelpass,” where he often speaks bluntly.
Regarding homosexuality in football, Basler had spoken out earlier as well, but in a markedly different way. The Weser-Kurier recalled in 2014 an older remark: the former national player had allegedly said in a television interview, “There are no gay professional footballers.”
