"My lawyer advised me against coming out of the closet"

Sexual orientation is still a taboo in the world of football, but little by little players are emerging who are breaking down barriers and serving as an inspiration for those who do not dare. One of the pioneers in this century was Thomas Hitzlsperger, a midfielder who was runner-up at Euro 2008 with Germany.
After his career was ended by injuries at Everton, Hitzlsperger decided to open up to the world and came out of the closet on 8th January 2014. The former Aston Villa, Stuttgart and Wolfsburg player became the first German player to do so, but according to him, he would have liked to do it earlier. When he was still active.
On the occasion of the Amazon Prime Video documentary 'The Last Taboo', which deals with this topic, the 41-year-old former player was interviewed by 'Bild'. In his words, he made it clear that he was under pressure not to open up and that there is still a lot to do in football: "We talk about it, but the players don't identify themselves as such. It's a taboo on the pitch and in the dressing room, also because there are no known active homosexual footballers in Germany".
Hitzlsperger had a long-term relationship with a woman and in June 2007, shortly before getting married, he separated. But he knew that revealing his sexuality would not be supported by everyone. "Not everyone around me thought it was OK," he says. By 2010, when he signed for Lazio, he already felt a strong urge to go public: "I couldn't repress my feelings any more.
His personal experience is shattering. In 2012, as a player at Wolfsburg, he wanted to talk about his sexuality in public for good, but he was repressed. "My lawyer advised me against coming out," said Thomas Hitzlsperger, who also quotes a quote. "Under no circumstances should you talk about it!" was what he was told when asked if he should come out of the closet.
Although he understands that today's society is more respectful than it was 10 or 20 years ago, the German insists that among the top echelons of the sport it is still frowned upon: "When it comes to the main players there is a problem. There are only seven known gay professionals in the whole business. It's always said that when will the first active player in one of the five big leagues come out with this?
"There is already one with Jakub Jankto," immediately recalls Hitzlsperger, who tries to encourage doubters with the experience of the Czech from Cagliari: "He went public once and hasn't had to say anything more about it since. That's when you realise that it doesn't have to be a big deal".