Blackpool forward Jake Daniels, the only openly gay male professional footballer in the UK, has accepted an apology from team-mate Marvin Ekpiteta over historic homophobic social media posts.
On Monday, Daniels became the first active men’s player to come out as gay since Justin Fashanu in 1990. In an interview with Sky News, the 17-year-old said he wanted to “be myself” after “such a long time of lying and not being able to have what I want”.
Ekpiteta admitted he had used “offensive and completely inappropriate language” in now-deleted posts dating between 2012 and 2013 and said football had helped him to “develop and grow as a person”.
The defender added: “I was proud of Jake and all involved at Blackpool for what is a hugely positive moment for football as a whole. I am embarrassed by the comments I made as a 17-year-old, nearly a decade ago, which do not in any way reflect the values I hold now or the beliefs I have as a person or as a team-mate… I take full responsibility for these posts and I am sorry.”
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In response, Daniels wrote on Twitter: “What you said 10 years ago at 17- years-old doesn’t define the man you are today.
“I am proud to be your teammate and to be part of the Blackpool family – we are all moving football forwards together.”
During his interview, Daniels had thanked both his family and Seasiders team-mates for their reaction and revealed he had scored four goals the day after revealing the news to his mother and sister.
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“My team-mates have all been so supportive about it and everyone has had my back. They’ve been asking tons of questions, they have all been intrigued and their reaction has been brilliant. It’s the best thing I could have asked for.
“Of course, everyone was kind of shocked in a way and they were asking why I didn’t tell them earlier. That was a great reaction because it showed how much they cared.”
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