PREMIERSHIP referee Craig Napier says the ‘culture in Scottish football must change’ after revealing he is gay.
The Category One whistler was followed by fellow Scottish ref Lloyd Wilson in coming out this morning.
Napier admitted it wasn’t ever something he imagined opening up on but was inspired by recent stories.
Napier becomes the first figure within Scottish football to come out in a hugely significant step forward.
He admits it has been a difficult journey to reach this point and says while the topic shouldn’t be a news story, it remains important that others see prominent figures having the conversation.
Speaking with the Scottish FA, he said: “It’s something that I never thought I would be sitting here doing. It’s something I have lived with for a long time.
“It’s been a difficult journey to get to this point but over the past couple of years it has become easier.
“I think it is really important that people like me are willing to sit here and do this. I don’t think this needs to be a news story but I think at this moment it really does.
“We need to see the climate change so that people feel they can be their true self and live happily and comfortably in their own skin. That then needs to transcend into football.
“I think it’s been really inspiring to see what has happened recently. Josh Cavallo first of all then Jake Daniels more recently. Jake at just 17 announcing to everyone his sexuality and I think many people would take inspiration from that.
“But they might also think ‘I am not brave enough to take this step, what if my friends don’t accept me or my family rejects my sexuality?’
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“So what I wanted to add to the conversation was I have never had a bad experience when having these conversations.
“I have always felt so much lighter having spoken about it.
“This isn’t a conversation about me. It’s one about trying to change the culture in Scottish football. I can’t go back and change decisions I have made to get here but I feel I can pass on to others to not make the same mistakes.
“Don’t waste time you could spend with other people. Live your life as it is not something you can change.
“It’s a lot of wasted energy worrying about whether you will lose friends over it, whether you won’t get promoted in refereeing because of it or whether you won’t get selected for the first team because of it.
“I think people would be better served enjoying their life as their true self and that is the message I want people to take away.”
Wilson followed Napier in revealing his sexuality and said he no longer wanted to ‘live a lie’.
Wilson has had games in the lower leagues and cups and also served as a fourth official in the Premiership.
He told Back Onside: “This has been a horrific journey to be honest. A journey of maybe about 17 years of living a life that I didn’t want to live, living a lie.
“Living the way that other people wanted me to live, or that I thought other people wanted me to live. Probably directed and dictated in many ways by football.
“The biggest worry for me was being judged differently from my colleagues who are not gay.
“I suppose being judged by fans for who I am off the field rather than who I am on it.
“At the end of the day I am a referee. I will get things right and I will get many things wrong, we all do because it’s the nature of the job.
“But I want to be judged for the decisions I make on the pitch and not those that I make off.
“I feel doing this interview, that I must say I am petrified about, is absolutely crucial for not just my colleagues, but also my colleagues who are players and suffering this same battle and journey that I have suffered.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
