Federation of Gay Games Condemns Croatian Football President
Tuesday, November 9th, 2010FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Kelly Stevens, FGG Officer of Communications, [email protected]
Telephone +1 206-446-6983 Skype: kelly.stevensusa
Federation of Gay Games Condemns Croatian Football President
Intolerance and ignorant comment by the president of the Croatian Football Federation is not acceptable in sport.
San Francisco, CA – (9 November 2010) - The international Federation of Gay Games strongly condemns the declaration made by Vlatko Markovic , President of the Croatian Football Federation, in a recent interview with Croatian newspaper Vecernji List.
In this interview, Mr. Markovic declared that there was no place for gay players on the national side, stating “While I’m a president of the Croatian Football Federation, there will be no homosexuals playing in the national team”. When asked whether in his career he has met a homosexual footballer, he replied: “Luckily, only normal people play football”.
Emy Ritt (Paris), co-president of the FGG, said of Markovic: “These comments are totally unacceptable and represent language and thinking that we hoped were no longer found in any sports official, let alone the president of a national sports federation. We support our member organizations qSport Croatia and the International Gay and Lesbian Sports Federation in their actions in response to this serious incident, and our friends at the European Gay and Lesbian Sports Federation in their response via Football Against Racism in Europe.”