Another day, another dickhead.
According to reports from Outsports, the Major League Soccer organisation is opening an investigation against L.A. Galaxy player, Sebastian Lletget.
The player was recently caught on camera calling a teammate ‘Puto’ – a well-known anti-gay slur in Spanish, which loosely translates to imply ‘gay prostitute’ or ‘weak’. Next, oblivious to his wrongdoing but in a fantastic win for good ol’ karma, he posted the video to Instagram. Himself.
The world of football (or soccer) has for too long been synonymous with a certain institutionalised homophobia in the name of ‘banter’, and with examples like this it’s no wonder so many LGBT+ athletes fear the professional and personal repercussions of being themselves.
A statement read: “Major League Soccer is committed to providing an environment in which all individuals are treated with dignity and respect, and we have no tolerance for discrimination and prejudice of any kind.”
“We are aware of the use of a homophobic slur by an L.A. Galaxy player. MLS has begun a formal investigation regarding the language used by the player and more information will be provided as soon as it becomes available.”
Lletget deleted the video shortly after posting it and released a statement to Outsports apologising for the homophobic incident.
“I messed up. Earlier today, I posted a video that included me using a derogatory slur in Spanish. I have taken down the video from my Instagram story but want to address its impact and not hide from this,” he said.
I mean, I guess it would be pretty difficult to hide from it when someone already put it on Youtube.
Lletget has been a midfielder for the L.A. Galaxy for six years and has played on the U.S. Men’s National Team since 2017.
Meanwhile, for some more life-affirming queer sports talk, check out this Amazon documentary profiling inclusive rugby club – The Steelers