IRISH BOOKMAKER PADDY Power has kicked off a new campaign to deal with the issue of homophobia in football.

In conjunction with Stonewall, a charity which fights for the rights of the LGBT community, the ‘Right Behind Gay Footballers’ campaign is aiming to highlight the fact that there are no openly gay professional footballers in Britain.

Rainbow-coloured laces have been sent to every player at 134 clubs in the Premier League, English Football League and Scotland’s professional divisions with Paddy Power asking them to “show the world they’ve got the balls to support gay players” by wearing them in their boots this weekend.

We love football but it needs a kick up the arse,” said Paddy Power on the bookmaker’s blog. “In most other areas of life people can be open about their sexuality and it’s time for football to take a stand and show players it doesn’t matter what team they play for.

“Fans can show they are right behind this by simply tweeting using the #RBGF hashtag whilst all players have to do is lace up this weekend to help set an example in world sport.”

It has already received significant support on social media sites while QPR midfielder Joey Barton has publicly got behind the cause. There is a limited stock of the laces at Paddy Power shops across Ireland and Britain.

Credit: Twitter/Joey7Barton

Credit: Twitter/PaddyPower

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