GAY footballers have been in talks with FA boss Greg Clarke about the possibility of coming out together at the start of the season.
Clarke believes it would be better for a group of players to reveal their sexual orientations when “the crowds are happy and the sun is shining”.
The FA boss revealed to the Times that he hoped for several stars to come out at the same time.
He said: “I put the message out there that if a number of top-level pros want to come out, why don’t we synchronise it?
“So one person doesn’t have to come out on their own.
“The Premier League, the Football League and the FA could do it at the start of the season.
“At the start of the season everybody thinks it is their season, the crowds are happy, the sun is shining.
“I was asked [recently] if football is ready for top-level pros to come out and I said I’m not sure we were.
“There was a survey which said people support gay people in their own team, yes, but I’m worried about what they said about gay people in the other team, not that they would do bad things, but I said we should prepare well.”
SunSport told last month how Scottish National Party MP John Nicolson said three big-name players were on the brink of revealing they are gay.
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He said: "I understand there are three players in talks with the FA about coming out, and they haven’t done so yet."
Clarke, however, was eager to point out no one will be forced into coming out.
He added: "I don't want to be part of a process that says, 'You've got to come out'. That's not right.
"People are cautious. It's a one-way street. Once you're out of the closet, you're out."
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