Football has a few gay players - Van Gaal

Former Manchester United manager, Louis Van Gaal has said that there are some gay players in football.

The 68-year old who retired a year ago stated that even though football “is not a mirror of society”, he suspects he has managed a few gay players.

When the Dutchman was asked by LGBT newspaper, Gaykrant, if there are gay players in football, he said: “Yes, but not many.

“The football world is not a mirror of society.”

He, however, didn't fancy the idea of a footballer coming out as gay.

"You need to be incredibly brave and you need to have a lot of strength if you want to come out.

“Because the football world and today’s angry society seem to deal with a different sexual choice.

“It is better for your own personality to stay close to your own feelings.

“But when you do come out, the pressure for a gay footballer will be massive.

“It would cause so much of a stir. You need to take so many hurdles. Can you handle that and will you feel okay with that?

“In my whole career, in all those years, not a single player has ever told me that he is gay. Really, not one! That says enough.

“A homosexual footballer is always afraid for the consequences of coming out.

“I think if it would stay in the changing room, a player would be willing to share that he is gay.

“We all pretend to believe that we all have the same rights.

“But you guys (gay people) don’t have that. I do regret that. A massive part of my own country is still very conservative.”

He added: “I did often think that players were gay. I have had my suspicions with certain players.

“But if a player does not want to admit it, it is better that I don’t make his life harder.

“I won’t say at which club it was, but I worked with players who I thought were gay.

“I want to protect those players. The majority of them are married to women and have kids. I can’t do that to them by revealing it.

“I used to ask (players) if they had a girlfriend. Only later I decided to ask if they have a partner.”

Vaan Gaal who had stints at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and the Dutch national team says he suspects creative players are gay.

He said: “I noticed in my career that it's the more creative players who are gay.

“And those kinds of players are more valuable in football.

“In other words, they are loved because of their football skills. You do understand what I mean, don’t you?

“I could be wrong here in all this, but not very often I am wrong in my life.”