Scottish referee Craig Napier has bravely come out as gay in a bid to remove the “stigma” and “fear” attached to sexuality in football.
The referee, 32, sat down with the Scottish Football Association to reveal he was inspired by Australian Josh Cavallo, as well as Blackpool's Jake Daniels, who both came out as gay footballers recently.
Craig told how he has never feared discussing his sexuality in other settings - including during his work as a doctor for the NHS - but said that “football is different”, reports The Daily Record.
He hopes by speaking out, it may inspire other sportspeople to have these important conversations with their friends and family so they can be their “true self”.
The Category One referee said: “It’s something that I never thought I would be sitting here doing. It’s something that I’ve obviously lived with for a long time.
“It’s been a difficult journey to get to this point. But over the last couple of years, it’s become a lot easier.
“I don’t think this needs to be a news story but I think, at the moment, it really does because we need to see the climate change so that people do feel that they can be their true self and live happily and comfortably in their own skin.
“And that needs to transcend into football.
“I remember reading the newspapers when Tom Daly came out and I was so inspired but not inspired enough where I felt confident enough that I could then come out because I thought ‘diving isn’t the same as football’.
“There is something about football at the moment. There’s still that barrier.
“I’m involved in lots of spheres in life whether it be social, whether it be at my work in the NHS, whether it be at university where I also work and I’m entirely comfortable.
“Football is different and I think that’s why these conversations are important because we need to change that culture. There are no footballers on the pitch that are open but they are there.
“And until we have these conversations and have these role models on the pitch, there will be that stigma, that fear and that’s what we need to change and I hope that we can do that by having these conversations.”
He added: “There will be people who might say this doesn’t need to be in the news, a gay sportsperson doesn’t need to be on the back pages or on social media.
“But I think it’s important for people in the LGBT community to hear these conversations, to say ‘yeah, that’s similar to my journey’.
“I think that it’s been really inspiring to see what’s happened recently - Josh Cavallo and Jake Daniels more recently.
“It’s positive to see Jake, at the age of 17, announcing to everyone his sexuality and I think that many people will take inspiration from that.
“But they might also think, I’m not sure I’m brave enough to take that step. What if my friends don’t accept me? What if my family rejects my sexuality?
“And I think that what I wanted to add to the conversation was that I’ve never had a bad experience when I’ve had these conversations.
“I’ve always felt so much lighter after speaking about it. This isn’t a conversation about me - this is a conversation about trying to change the culture in Scottish football.”
Craig said that while he cannot go back and change decisions he has made in the past, he hopes that others can learn from him to prevent them from making “those same mistakes”.
He urged others not to “waste time” over ‘something that you can’t change’ and that “it’s not something worth hiding”.
The ref added: “It’s a lot of wasted energy, worrying about whether you’re going to lose friends over it, whether you’re not going to get promoted in refereeing because of it or whether you’re not going to get selected for the first team because of it.
“Josh and Jake are changing that and hopefully here in Scotland I can play a small part in hoping that it can inspire whoever is out there to be more comfortable in who they are and have the conversations with their family, friends, teammates and come out publicly if they feel able to.
“And I think people will be better served enjoying their life and living their true self. That’s the message that I want people to take away from this conversation.”
Craig’s announcement came at the start of Pride Month, where members of the LGBTQ+ community and their allies celebrate and reflect.
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