Liverpool‘s leading LGBT+ fan group Kop Outs believes Jordan Henderson‘s legacy at the club would be “tainted” if he agrees to join Saudi Arabia side Al-Ettifaq this summer.
According to The Athletic, Al-Ettifaq the side managed by former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, have made a “life-changing” offer to Henderson that would quadruple his current salary. The 33-year-old is apparently leaning towards accepting their proposal over staying at Anfield.
Although Henderson would be far from the first Premier League footballer to move to Saudi Arabia in recent times, his apparent willingness to consider going to a country where homosexuality is illegal has provoked surprise given his allyship towards the LGBT+ community.
Henderson has been one of the Premier League’s most outspoken advocates of the Stonewall-backed Rainbow Laces campaign and in 2021 was shortlisted for a football ally honour at the British LGBT+ Awards after offering his public support to a gay Liverpool supporter on social media.
Speaking in 2019, Henderson described people who have homophobic and transphobic views as “small-minded idiots” who have “no place in football”. His social conscience was also evidenced when he led the Premier League’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic by initiating a charitable fund for the NHS.
According to Paul Amann, chair and founder of Kop Outs, Henderson’s commitment to human rights causes would come into question if he decided to join a Saudi club.
Kop Outs have valued the allyship shown by @JHenderson
— Kop Outs!
We are appalled and concerned that anyone might consider working for a #sportswashing operation for a regime where women & LGBT+ people are oppressed & that regularly tops the world death sentence table? https://t.co/NVjxO2y1hU(@LFC_LGBT) July 13, 2023
“Given Jordan’s unswerving previous support to a number of human rights issues from women’s rights and Women In Sport to Rainbow Laces and other LGBT+ campaigns, it’s extraordinary to think that this would sit well with a man who has nailed his colours to the mast so effectively and been an amazing ally over this time,” Amann told i.
“It cannot take away from him being a captain of Liverpool at a point at which we’ve won everything and it can’t take away from his personal statements in the past. But it taints everything. I would say this about any individual, it’s not about Jordan; anybody that chooses to go to play in a regime that is so fundamentally against human rights clearly doesn’t actually hold human rights that close to them.
“If he is genuinely countenancing it, which we don’t know, then that is deeply disappointing and highly concerning that he can perform such a volte-face on this issue and effectively leave us questioning the authenticity of his original support.”
On the argument put forward by some that the finances on offer are impossible to turn down, Amann adds: “How many more millions does a multi-millionaire need for it to be life-changing?”
As well as reuniting with Gerrard, Henderson would join an ever-expanding contingent of Liverpool legends in the Middle East, with Roberto Firmino now at Al Ahli and Robbie Fowler in charge of second-tier side Al-Qadsiah.
Henderson’s midfield partner Fabinho has been linked with Al-Ittihad, Saudi Arabia’s reigning champions who are managed by Nuno Espirito Santo and have signed Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante and former Celtic winger Jota.
According to Amann, members of the Kop Outs have been left “perplexed” by Gerrard’s move to Saudi Arabia.
“Gerrard is a guy who more than happily played alongside Robbie Rogers [at LA Galaxy], one of the world’s only out gay players and yet he can then go and take up his career in a place that would probably see Robbie Rogers stoned to death. What’s that about? I just don’t get how he can square that in his own mind.”
If Henderson leaves, Liverpool will bid farewell to one of their most successful players of the modern era. Since signing from Sunderland in 2011, Henderson has won eight major honours with the club, seven as captain, including the Champions League in 2019 and a first Premier League title in 2020.
The club has signed two midfielders ahead of next season with Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai arriving from Brighton and RB Leipzig respectively, but would need to source a replacement for Henderson should he be sold. Southampton’s Romeo Lavia has been earmarked as a potential recruit.
In response to reports over Henderson’s future, Kop Outs tweeted: “Kop Outs have valued the allyship shown by Jordan Henderson.
“We are appalled and concerned that anyone might consider working for a #sportswashing operation for a regime where women and LGBT+ people are oppressed & that regularly tops the world death sentence table?
“We hope that Jordan Henderson proves to be a man of his word and stays true to the values of our club, which so far he has been an absolute embodiment of.”
“He has been such an incredible figure at the club,” adds Amann. “He’s won everything and we want to make sure that that legacy is one that we can celebrate into the future.”
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/e0niwSa
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