2023-07-01 11:14:52
That a famous person publicly says that he is homosexual and becomes news and is called “brave” is a reflection that, unfortunately, normality is still far away and an argument in favor of those who argue that it is logical that there will be one day. of gay pride and not one of heterosexual pride because they do not start from the same place. In the world of sports, where phrases such as “soccer is for men” are often heard, identifying the word “man” with the stereotype of tough, or as if, for example, women did not play; or where a player is shouted from the stands that he is a “faggot” when he loses a ball, it is even more difficult and there are not many athletes who have made their homosexuality public. There are few soccer players who have stepped forward and even fewer referees who have dared to shout that they are gay. The reason? Sometimes the consequences make it not worth it.
Dutch referee John Blankenstein was the first to openly come out as gay, and his audacity had consequences. By family tradition, John Blankenstein had to dedicate himself to football. His father played, and so did his brother and his sister. However, his mediocre performances with the ball at his feet forced him to take a different path, but not so far from him. When he was 17 years old, he decided to referee even though his coming out would deprive him of most of his success.
Who was John Blankenstein?
John Blankenstein was born on February 12 at De Bilt and his love of football runs in his family. As a child, Blankenstein moved with his family to the city of The Hague, where he later played soccer for the local club VCS. At 22, after failing to make it as a professional player, he began a career as a referee working for the Royal Dutch Football Association.
From 1980 until the end of his career, he refereed 502 professional soccer games. From 1985 to 1995, Blankenstein whistled 88 international matches and was on the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) list of referees. The highlights of his career were the 1993 UEFA Cup final and being chosen as a referee at the 1992 European Championship.
His sexual orientation was never a secret. Neither for his family, nor for the world of sports. In a world as homophobic as soccer, in which homosexuality was taboo in the 80s and 90s, he knew how to carve out an outstanding career as a referee.
A suspicious change of collegiate
However, in a football event that should have been a new achievement in his career, came the consequences of his activism in favor of homosexual rights. In 1994, Blankenstein was selected to referee the UEFA Champions League final between AC Milan and FC Barcelona, but was surprisingly replaced by Englishman Philip Don a few days before the game. The reason for the decision was never made public. They alleged that the coach Johan Cruyff and Ronald Koeman, both from FC Barcelona, were from the Netherlands, the same nationality as the referee, but over time the truth would come to light.
Blankenstein himself declared years later that it was because he was openly homosexual, something that the then president of Milan, Silvio Berlusconi, did not like. From that moment on, he threw himself into his fight for the rights of the LGTBi collective and showed his support to those athletes who wanted to come out of the closet.
After his career as a referee, Blankenstein became director of ‘Professional Football Referee Affairs’ for the Royal Netherlands Football Association.
Blankenstein never hid his sexuality and, after retiring, he became a symbol of the fight for equality in the Netherlands and to eradicate homophobia in football. He passed away at the age of 57 from kidney disease. After his death, his sister Karin decided that his fight could not fall on deaf ears and got down to work. In December 2008, he created the John Blankenstein Foundation, an institution that aims to end homophobia and the taboo against homosexuality in football and sports in general.
Since then, he has promoted a multitude of initiatives such as the one that led UEFA to award the #EqualGame award in 2018 to Guram Kashia, a player for the Georgian national team “for his courageous public position in favor of equality.”
While playing for SBV Vitesse in the Dutch top division in 2017, the 31-year-old central defender decided to support a campaign by the Blankenstein Foundation and took to the field wearing a rainbow armband, thereby supporting the LGBT community. Kashia received threats and even some calls to leave the national team, but with his gesture he took another step towards diversity and respect in a sport like football that still has a long way to go in this field.
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