{"id":297202,"date":"2023-11-23T08:24:25","date_gmt":"2023-11-23T08:24:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportslifetale.com\/?p=297202"},"modified":"2023-11-23T08:24:25","modified_gmt":"2023-11-23T08:24:25","slug":"britains-only-gay-footballer-slams-jordan-hendersons-saudi-move","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportslifetale.com\/soccer\/britains-only-gay-footballer-slams-jordan-hendersons-saudi-move\/","title":{"rendered":"Britain&apos;s only gay footballer slams Jordan Henderson&apos;s Saudi move"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Britain&#8217;s only gay footballer Jake Daniels claims Jordan Henderson&#8217;s \u00a3700k-per-week move to Saudi Arabia was a &#8216;slap in the face&#8217; for the LGBTQ+ community after the former Liverpool captain supported him for coming out<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Jordan Henderson joined Al-Ettifaq from Liverpool in July in a \u00a312m move\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The England international was a prominent supporter of the LGBTQ+ community\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The curse of our game is abuse of referees, we are not doing enough to stop it. The punishments must be HARSH &#8211; It&#8217;s All Kicking Off\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Britain&#8217;s only openly gay footballer has described Jordan Henderson&#8217;s move to Saudi Arabia as a &#8216;slap in the face&#8217; following his support of the LGBTQ+ community.<\/p>\n<p>The former Liverpool captain sent a message of support to Jake Daniels when he came out last year, but the Blackpool player has not heard from Henderson since he completed a \u00a312million move to join Al-Ettifaq in July<\/p>\n<p>The England international was criticised for his move to Saudi Arabia, where same-sex sexual activity is illegal, as campaigners felt it contradicted his support for the LGBTQ+ community.<\/p>\n<p>Henderson had been vocal in his support of the rainbow laces campaign and ending LGBTQ+ discrimination in football during his time at Anfield.<\/p>\n<p>Daniels told\u00a0BBC&#8217;s Newsbeat the former Liverpool midfielder sent him a message saying he was &#8216;proud&#8217; of his decision to come out 18 months ago.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/23\/06\/78145767-12783005-Jake_Daniels_has_described_Jordan_Henderson_s_move_to_Saudi_Arab-a-11_1700721399367.jpg\" height=\"379\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Jake Daniels\u00a0has described Jordan Henderson &#8216;s move to Saudi Arabia as a &#8216;slap in the face&#8217; following his support of the LGBTQ + community<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/23\/06\/78145455-0-image-a-4_1700721096625.jpg\" height=\"419\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Daniels became Britain&#8217;s first openly gay professional footballer since Justin Fashanu in 1990 when he came out 18 months ago\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;He was backing me and said: &#8220;We&#8217;re proud of what you&#8217;ve done&#8221;,&#8217; he explained.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Seeing him move to Saudi, it kind of like, slaps me in my face really.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;But I guess the money pays well, and money must mean more to people.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Davis also revealed he&#8217;d spoken to Steven Gerrard before the Liverpool great joined Al-Ettifaq as a manager.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I met him in person and he said: &#8220;If you ever want to get in contact then message me&#8221; &#8211; but he moved over,&#8217; he explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Henderson signed a \u00a3700,000-a-week deal but has repeatedly insisted his decision to join Al-Ettifaq was not financially motivated.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In an interview with The Athletic in September, hw said he understood the anger surrounding his move to Saudi Arabia, but claimed he moved to the country to help &#8216;grow the sport all over the world&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>He said that people were aware of his &#8216;views and values&#8217;, claiming that his presence in Saudi Arabia could ultimately be a &#8216;positive thing&#8217;, despite the barrage of criticism coming his way.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I can understand the frustration. I can understand the anger. I get it,&#8217; Henderson said.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/23\/06\/78145467-12783005-image-a-14_1700721534732.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Henderson faced criticism from the LGBTQ+ community by moving to Saudi Arabia<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/23\/06\/78145473-12783005-image-a-12_1700721451276.jpg\" height=\"493\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The England international joined Al-Ettifaq in July, where he was reunited with former Liverpool teammate Steven Gerrard<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/23\/06\/78145471-12783005-image-a-13_1700721455186.jpg\" height=\"495\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Henderson had been vocal in his support of the rainbow laces campaign and ending LGBTQ+ discrimination in football during his time at Anfield<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;All I can say around that is that I&#8217;m sorry that they feel like that. My intention was never, ever to hurt anyone.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;My intention has always been to help causes and communities where I felt like they have asked for my help.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I think people know what my views and values were before I left and still do now. And I think having someone with those views and values in Saudi Arabia is only a positive thing.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>His response was widely panned by Liverpool&#8217;s LGBTQ+ fan group Kop Outs!, which accused Henderson of declining any responsibility for his &#8216;role in sportswashing&#8217; and trying to &#8216;disguise the disgusting Saudi human rights record&#8217;.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Henderson had previously been nominated for &#8216;Football Ally&#8217; at the LGBT+ Awards in 2021, having made headlines for his supportive tweet to Liverpool fan Keith Spooner during the Rainbow Laces campaign.<\/p>\n<p>The midfielder had also declared himself as &#8216;proud&#8217; to be considered an ally and said it was important to stand alongside the LGBT+ community during Liverpool programme notes made during the Rainbow Laces campaign in 2021.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/23\/06\/78145817-12783005-image-a-15_1700721681467.jpg\" height=\"399\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Davies warned football risked to undermine the progress it&#8217;s made on the LGBTQ+ front by hosting the World Cup in Qatar last year and awarding the 2034 edition to Saudi Arabia<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I do believe when you see something that is clearly wrong and makes another human being feel excluded you should stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them,&#8217; Henderson wrote at the time.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;You also have a responsibility to educate yourself better around the challenges they experience.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;That&#8217;s where my own position on homophobia in football is rooted. Before I&#8217;m a footballer, I&#8217;m a parent, a husband, a son, a brother and a friend to the people in my life who matter so much to me.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;The idea that any of them would feel excluded from playing or attending a football match, simply for being and identifying as who they are, blows my mind.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;The idea they&#8217;d have to hide from it to be accepted? But that&#8217;s exactly how too many members of the LGBT+ community feel. We know this because they tell us. So we should listen, support them and work to make it better.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Daniels is Britain&#8217;s first openly gay footballer since\u00a0Justin Fashanu came out in 1990 and one of the few high-profile gay men in the sport.<\/p>\n<p>Adelaide United player Josh Cavallo became the first openly gay top-flight footballer in the world in October 2021, before Czech Republic international Jakub Jankto came out in February.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Some players have also come out after their careers were over, such as former Aston Villa player Thomas Hitzlsperger and ex-Hull City youth star Thomas Beattie.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But Davies warned football risked to undermine the progress it&#8217;s made on the LGBTQ+ front by hosting the World Cup in Qatar last year and awarding the 2034 edition to Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;We were starting to see a bit of progress,&#8217; he said. &#8216;Then the Qatar World Cup happens and we go back again.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;If I was involved in the World Cup and went over, I wouldn&#8217;t feel safe, and that&#8217;s putting my football in jeopardy.&#8217;<\/p>\n<h3>IT&#8217;S ALL KICKING OFF!\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p><span><span>It&#8217;s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span>It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-12783005\/Jake-Daniels-Jordan-Henderson-Saudi-slam-LGBTQ.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Britain&#8217;s only gay footballer Jake Daniels claims Jordan Henderson&#8217;s \u00a3700k-per-week move to Saudi Arabia was a &#8216;slap in the face&#8217; for the LGBTQ+ community after the former Liverpool captain supported him for coming out Jordan Henderson joined Al-Ettifaq from Liverpool in July in a \u00a312m move\u00a0\u00a0 The England international was a prominent supporter of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":297201,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Britain&amp;apos;s only gay footballer slams Jordan Henderson&amp;apos;s Saudi move - Sports Life Tale<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportslifetale.com\/soccer\/britains-only-gay-footballer-slams-jordan-hendersons-saudi-move\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Britain&amp;apos;s only gay footballer slams Jordan Henderson&amp;apos;s Saudi move - Sports Life Tale\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Britain&#8217;s only gay footballer Jake Daniels claims Jordan Henderson&#8217;s \u00a3700k-per-week move to Saudi Arabia was a &#8216;slap in the face&#8217; 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