This is a matter for the AFLPA, but basically I would say it's the only way any player would ever feel safe enough to come out, and the AFL should do all it can to facilitate it. AFL should also come down hard on spectators shouting anti-gay abuse at games, using slurs like fag, pouf, etc., by ejecting them from grounds and banning them from matches, and fining their clubs, as is done in UK soccer.

Can you blame them for not 'coming out'? This season has seen just how juvenile both fans and players can be when it comes to remarks made on game day. Case in point being Patrick McGinnity's disgusting taunt directed at his opponents mother and Justin Sherman's racist remarks during the Gold Coast match. It should be purely at the players discretion as to when they choose to come out, rather than an AFL endorsed media circus. Perhaps this is more an area for the AFL Players Association.

Surely AFL players, like most Australians, don't really care if someone is gay or not. Footballers are probably more concerned about how well their teamates play football. I'm guessing most of them don't give a damn what their teamates do in the bedroom. Maybe its the more 'oldschool' coaches, management and older fans that gay footballers are worried about. Maybe the AFL management could be more supportive by making stronger public statements, but in the end homophobia is everywhere not just in football.