Soccer podcast: Testo candid about coming out
For most of his career, American midfielder David Testo played soccer with a secret. As a gay athlete, he felt forced to keep his sexuality under wraps because of the widespread homophobia inherent in the game.
Club officials actively discouraged David Testo from coming out.
(AP)
When Testo considered coming out several years ago, he was actively discouraged from doing so by his club's officials, who feared it could prove an unwanted distraction.
But in November, Testo, a 30-year-old stalwart of North American soccer who played most recently for the Major League Soccer newcomer Montreal Impact, finally took the step of publicly announcing that he is gay.
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His story is chronicled in this week’s bonus, prerecorded edition of the Yahoo! Soccer podcast, in conjunction with World Football Daily, and provides a fascinating insight into the mindset of the closeted gay athlete.
Testo speaks candidly to me and my World Football Daily co-host, Sophie Nicolaou, about how it affected his career, as well as the response to his decision to make his story public.
Though near the end of his career, Testo said that opening up about being gay had improved his confidence and performance on the field. He also revealed that several gay athletes had contacted him in support of his decision.
The Yahoo! Soccer podcast will return in its full form next week, with news, interviews, a roundup of the week's action plus a lookahead to the busy month of January.
[ Related: Five biggest soccer stories of 2011 ]
To have your questions answered in next week's show, please message me on Twitter at @mrogersyahoo.
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