Is there any truth in his words?
The Brazilian soccer referee, Igor Benevento, who is known as the first and only FIFA international referee to come out of the closet, made a particularly surprising statement in an interview he gave to the German newspaper "Der Spiegel".
"If we take into account all the people involved in football - officials, coaches, players and referees, between 30 and 40 percent are homosexual or bisexual, or have done something at some point in their life with a man," the judge stated.
In addition, Benevento, who was not included in the list of referees who will take part in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, said: "You will be surprised to know who is homosexual in the football industry."
Regarding his dealings with the environment, the judge added: "In Brazil, homosexuality is seen as a disease like alcoholism, which can be overcome. I believed it for years. I suffered from depression and went through dark periods. I prayed to God to get rid of this disease. Unfortunately, there are still prejudices," he admits in the interview.
"I don't expect the situation to change completely in my lifetime. But I can still be a drop in the sea of change," he admitted.
'You would be surprised at just who is homosexual in this industry'
FIFA's only openly gay referee Igor Benevenuto believes 40% of footballers are gay or bisexual https://t.co/ig4XaIxUWK
— MailOnline Sport (@MailSport) August 24, 2022
Last month, Benevento came out of the closet when he said on the podcast "In the dressing room closets": "I'm gay, I'm attracted to men and football is a sport I grew up with and started to hate because I couldn't stand the environment full of prejudices. There are referees, players, coaches, married, with children , separated, with double lives, everything is there. We exist. And we deserve the right to talk about it, to live normally."
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