A couple of days back, former NBA star, John Ameachi stated in a parliamentary hearing on homophobia in sport that Gay Premier League footballers would perform better if they were to come out.
He and British race walker, Tom Bosworth told MPs that players would be able to focus on their sport instead of hiding.
According to Bosworth a non-openly gay footballer could not be enjoying life as much as he could have.
Bosworth claimed his performance recorded a significant improvement after he admitted publicly that he was gay.
Ameachi who insists that he is in contact with gay footballers who are reluctant to come out said that if an individual uses 1% of his energy to stop being who he is it might turn out to be the difference between being good and being great.
The logical question now is, does hiding equate to one who has stopped being who one really is?
A gay footballer might hide his sexual orientation but has that stopped him from being gay? After all, they might be in gay relationships while hiding that fact from the general public.
I think the argument posed by John Ameachi is flawed.
For one, as I have already stated, hiding one's sexual orientation is not the same as stopping oneself from being who one is. It just means that the gay footballer has a life not known by the public.
And to the crux of the matter, will coming out publicly actually have a positive effect on a player's performance levels? That Tom Bosworth's performance results have improved is hardly enough evidence to suggest that all athletes or footballers will have an improvement in their general performance if they came out.
Maybe in the short term, it might lead to some better performances as a burden would have been lifted from the footballer's shoulders. But what happens after the euphoria that comes with the freedom to openly be who one is has worn off?
In football, a bang average footballer usually remains bang average. Revealing a sexual orientation which has nothing to do with a gay player's footballing skills or intelligence is not going to change much contrary to what Ameachi would have us believe.
The highest profile footballer to ever come out, Thomas Hitzlsperger, was not exceptional in his playing days. He although represented Germany 52 times and played for some decent teams like Aston Villa, Stuttgart and Lazio. But if he were playing today, he wouldn't get into the current German squad's midfield. It is unlikely his public admittance to his sexual orientation would have made him better than he was.
Another important thing to note is that human beings have different ways they react to their environment. While people like Bosworth might notice an improvement in their performance, some others might not record any significant change in their performance and of course, there will be others whose performances may start to suffer. The possibility that there might be some negative or indifferent outcome after a player has revealed his sexual orientation does not appear to figure in the views of Ameachi and Bosworth.
Football being a team sport is not as straightforward as athletics where results can determine whether one is improving or not. With the advent of Opta and other sports statistics companies, a player's performance could be evaluated to a large degree but it all depends on what aspect of the player's game is being assessed.
Not many players can maintain their best form consistently for long periods without a major or minor slump. Reaching a conclusion as to whether an admittance to a sexual preference is responsible for an upturn in performance might be too simplistic.
Does a player need to come out as gay? If it's important to the player and the player feels it might help him then so be it. The question now is, what does he intend to achieve by coming out?
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