Half of Brits don’t consider footballers playing for Saudi teams to be LGBTQ+ allies, study finds

England footballer Jordan Henderson wears a red strip with a rainbow captain's armband

A majority of Britons do not consider any footballer who plays for a team in Saudi Arabia to be an LGBTQ+ ally, a survey has found. 

After the announcement last week that former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson had signed for Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ettifaq, polling from YouGov found that 52 per cent of all Britons surveyed do not consider a sportsperson who moves to the kingdom to be an ally of the LGBTQ+ community. That number rises to 56 per cent for queer people.

England international Henderson, who had demonstrated years of support for the LGBTQ+ community, came in for some heavy criticism because of Saudi Arabia’s hard-line stance against homosexuality.

Homosexuality is illegal in the country – punishable by death – while LGBTQ+ people are afforded no protection against discrimination.

The poll surveyed 3,679 adults, and 60 per cent of the 338 queer respondents said they would still consider a footballer playing in Saudi Arabia to be an ally as long as he continued to speak out in favour of LGBTQ+ rights.

If they were to stop speaking out in favour of LGBTQ+ rights while playing in the country, a majority of LGBTQ+ Brits (71 per cent) would no longer consider them to be an ally. 

You may like to watch

A small number (13 per cent) of the queer people surveyed would still consider a player who stopped speaking out in favour of LGBTQ+ rights to be an ally.

A majority of Brits said a football player is not an ally if they transfer to a team in Saudi Arabia (YouGov)

After the announcement of Henderson’s move, LGBTQ+ fan network Pride in Football said it appeared to them that he had “thrown away” his previous allyship. 

“A few years ago, Jordan Henderson said that you should stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the community if you feel something is wrong, and now he is transferring to the other side of the world to play in a country where those very people he defended are attacked and imprisoned for being who they are,” the group said. 

“All the campaigns he has been a part of now feel meaningless. [We are] sure his original intentions were good, but he’s throwing away everything he’s said, and hurting a community of people who trusted him.

“It’s disappointing that someone we as a community trusted has all but turned his back on everything he has said and done, but another example of how maybe footballers are being over-praised for simply being supportive.”

England LGBTQ+ fan group, 3LionsPride, added that they were “disappointed” about the move “in the struggle for acceptance within the game”.

How did this story make you feel?

Sending reaction...
Thanks for your feedback!

Please login or register to comment on this story.