Thomas Hitzlsperger is one of the few German football players to openly announce that he was gay. This news has come recently to the fore as a number of other players have come forward for the first time. However, this is the first time that this news and announcement has emerged from his side. He broke off his long term relationship with fiancée Inga. Robbie Rogers had earlier also stated that he was gay before retiring. However, British footballer Justin Fashanu was a gay football player who had to suffer a degree of rejection after he made a similar announcement.
Hitzlsperger has recently stated that soccer in Germany or England or Italy is not much affected by such questions but rather by more direct ones like team spirit, the spirit of winning etc. He said that by coming out he was hoping to help gay people everywhere to make find acceptance. Such coming out of sportsmen is quite rare and may help to create a degree of acceptance for such things. His announcement came in an interview with Die Zeit. Many players feel the pressure to stop playing before coming out. However, this new move will perhaps pave the way for change in the future.
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