The Gay Gooners celebrate their tenth birthday next year

THE leader of one of the most prominent LGBT+ football supporters group has slammed World Cup hosts Qatar for its record on gay rights – and warned ahead of the big kick off that football should “belong to everybody”.

Carl Fearn is the co-chair of Gay Gooners, the UK’s first and largest LGBT+ football supporters’ group. Along with many members, he will not be flying to Qatar to follow the national side for this years’ tournament in protest at Qatar’s abysmal record on gay rights.

In the hereditary monarchy, same-sex relationships and sexual activity for men and women are illegal and can be punished with time in prison and, in extreme cases, penalty of death by stoning. “As a group, we’re very much against going and it’s nothing to do with not being able to hold hands and wave rainbow flags – that’s minor,” said Mr Fearn. “The reality is this is a protest against LGBT people being criminalised and denied the right to exist as the people we were born to be.”

Mr Fearn said he was horrified to read remarks by the Qatar World Cup ambassador who last week described homosexuality as “damage in the mind”, adding: “Personally, I am getting fed up of people still thinking that LGBT people choose to be that way. “Nobody chooses their sexuality. No straight person, for example, stands in front of the mirror during their teens when they’re growing up saying: ‘I’m going to be straight.’ The ludicrous situation is that people think we choose our lifestyle.”

The Gay Gooners will celebrate their tenth birthday next year and have worked with Arsenal to stamp out any discriminatory chants among football crowds. Mr Fearn said: “We are sort of a stand-out group here that are still marginalised and criminalised.”

He is still planning on watching the games “whenever England are playing – but as far as other games are concerned, I’m finding it difficult to know quite what to do. And that’s what makes it even harder – it’s hurting me as a person even to think about watching the games.”

Mr Fearn said some Gay Gooners members aren’t planning on watching any World Cup games.

To those who are switching off entirely, Mr Fearn said: “While it’s not up to me to tell people what they should or shouldn’t do – it’s up to the individual – my suggestion would be that they try to keep up with friends. Let’s not forget there’s an awful lot of League One, League Two and non-league football going on at the same time. So if they’re missing that football fix, then go to a local club.”

He added: “Most people in the country will say ‘there’s a problem with human rights’ and then it’s out of their mind, and they get sucked into the World Cup. “But for people like us, it will just be that nagging [feeling] – it’s like an open wound, it’s always there.”

He said FIFA “got it wrong” when they gave the World Cup to Qatar, adding: “There’s no football without the fans, without the fans it’s nothing. You saw that during Covid, with the attempts to generate crowd atmosphere with recorded chants. So football fans are essential to this. Football fans also generally feel that the World Cup should belong to everybody.”

Mr  Fearn added: “And this is where FIFA constantly get it wrong, because they’ve either got their heads in the sands of Qatar or they keep checking their bank balances, it’s all about making money.”

While some gay fans may not be travelling to Qatar, it is widely felt that there must be some gay players who are being asked to play there. No current England players have come out as gay and the only currently active player in the four divisions to do so is Jake Daniels, the young Blackpool midfielder who received widespread praise for his announcement.

Campaign groups have often spoken of the fear factor for gay players, and the story of Justin Fashanu – the talented footballer who was barracked with taunting chants for being the world’s first openly gay footballer – remains a lasting tragedy. He took his own life in 1998. A foundation in his name campaigns against racism and prejudice in sport