BY NOREEN FAGAN – Whoever thought that FIFA had the balls to take a kick at homophobia?
No one, really, so it is a big deal that the football
association is investigating the coaching style of Nigerian coach Eucharia
Uche.
Uche made the news earlier this year when she came clean
about her dirty tactics — not on the field, but in the locker room. An
article in The New York Times in June
2011 quoted Uche as saying that having lesbians on her team was a “worrisome
experience” and that she used religion in an attempt to get rid of any
homosexual behaviour.
It’s safe to say that her comments rubbed a lot of people
the wrong way.
AllOut launched an online campaign called FIFA: Give
the Red Card to Homophobia, which in a few short months collected 47,081 signatures.
News of an uprising by FIFA fans caused the association’s secretary general, Jérôme
Valcke, to sit up and take notice.
According to Gaelick, Valcke announced (well, he wrote a
letter) to AllOut that “football’s governing body will begin gathering
evidence in an investigation into the homophobic remarks and policies of head
Nigerian Football Coach Eucharia Uche.”
That was a month ago. A new update says that FIFA has already
taken the first step to examine what’s in Uche’s locker.
Go, FIFA, go.
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