James Maddison & Ben Chilwell Insist Gay Players Are Welcome at 'Accepting' Leicester City
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Leicester City stars Ben Chilwell and James Maddison have insisted that they would welcome a teammate in their dressing room who is prepared to come out as gay, amid Stonewall's 'Rainbow Laces' campaign to combat homophobia within football.
The campaign has been in place since 2012, but incidents of abuse towards the LGBT community within the sport continue to occur. Last month, a man was arrested following alleged homophobic abuse towards a referee in a League One match between Tranmere Rovers and Wycombe Wanderers.
On top of this, Radcliffe Borough medic Mary Priestner experienced 'disgusting' homophobic and sexist abuse and was also spat at during a Lancashire Cup game earlier this week. West Ham fans were also accused of homophobic chanting during their victory over Chelsea last Saturday, and no footballer has yet to come out as gay or bisexual in the top four divisions in England.
However, Leicester duo Chilwell and Maddison sent out a very strong message whilst speaking to Sky Sports, insisting that they would welcome a player of any sexuality in their 'accepting' dressing room.
"If you look back 30 years ago, dressing rooms were a lot more ruthless," Chilwell said. "But ours now is completely open to anything. We've got different countries together, different religions and different races.
"Everyone is so together at Leicester, and I know that's the same with other clubs. If there was someone who wanted to come out as gay, that's completely fine."
Maddison was quick to second his teammate's comments, insisting that 'nothing changes' if a player were to come out as gay within the Leicester squad.
"We've got a very accepting changing room, and I think if one of our teammates was to come out and say they were gay, nothing changes.That's how it is with us, and hopefully going forward that can be the same for everyone."