In an acrticle he penned himself for The Guardian's Sports Section, U.K. footballer David James ponders the ol' "what do you think the chances are that a gay player would ever come out during his professional career" question. It's pretty much the same deal as any other story you may have read asking the same question (remember John Amaechi in the States a few months back?), but about halfway down the column this caught our attention:

"No one's ever come out to me during my 18 years in football. But I must say I've seen and heard some strange things, remarks that could suggest someone is gay or bisexual..."

Oh, it gets better...

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South African police are taking "equal opportunity" to a whole new level. As the country mulls legalizing prostitution, coppers are asking the government to import at least 2500 male hustlers for the 2010 World Cup. Though there are enough female sex workers, the Rainbow Nation's in dire need of more M4M sex workers. Police Commissioner spokesperson Renato Thabethe insists:

Our constitution demands equal opportunity for gay sports fans. South Africa is fast becoming the gay friendly capital of the continent, and we need to ensure that this remains the case in 2010.

Don't worry, though, the fuzz are dedicated to ensuring visitors get an authentic "African experience" by recruiting men from the continent:

We want to ensure that this is an African experience. What kind of African welcome will we offer to international visitors if they simply end up with the same sex workers that they left behind at home?

How thoughtful. Nothing tops a South African adventure like real life African hooker!

While the news may please gay soccer fans, South Africa's indigenous hustlers aren't feeling so international. Gay Association of Sex Worker's Guy Forheir issued a statement:

Everyday we are outlawed and oppressed by the government, and when we are finally about to be legalized, they are preparing to take our very living away from us. Why should ordinary South African sex professionals make way for foreigners? All we want to do is make a living... We have a right to make a quick buck on the 2010 World Cup just like every other South African.

The costumer always cums first.

GOV TO IMPORT GAY SEX WORKERS [Mamba Online]

After years of reassurance, two German footballers came out to Germany's Rund Magazine, yet refused to be identified for fear of "professional suicide". One player admitted to having an affair with a childhood friend, building a web of deception to cover his tracks. According to Deutsche Welle:

One player, who is married, said even his wife had no idea he was gay and that he was involved in a long-term relationship with a childhood friend. "But what am I to do? Coming out would mean death," he was quoted as saying in the article.

The other gay player profiled said that a female friend in the know often accompanied him to club celebrations and parties to give the impression that he was straight.

Homophobia in soccer's nothing new and in recent years the sport's seen a shift in perception, joining the struggle to overcome stereotypes on and off the pitch. While the UK has regulations on anti-gay jeering, Germany's yet to adopt such a strident stance.

Tatjana Eggeling from the Institute of Cultural Anthropology and European Ethnology at the University of Göttingen estimates that there are more than two dozen gay players, but says:

As things stand now, I wouldn't advise a single German soccer player to come out because it would be just too much of a risk for him, both for his career and personal life.

The last professional soccer player to come out was Justin Fashanu (pictured), who ended up losing his contract, being accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year old and eventually committed suicide in 1998.

We were just checking in on our homie Andy Towle and saw his post on David Beckham coming to play for LA Galaxy. We're not really into sports all that much, so we won't try to talk about Beckham's performance or anything like that. We'd just like to point out one wholly ridiculous, utterly excessive and undeniably grotesque: Becks stands to make $248 million over the course of five-years.

Certainly this is a great sum of money - in fact, it's unprecedented in America's Major League Soccer. Up until a short time ago, MLS capped all player's salaries. This season, however, the league swtiched things up with the Designated Player Rule aka The Beckham Rule, which says a team can pick one "priceless" player and pay them more than the pre-selected cap. According to everyone's favorite virtual encyclopedia, the DPR::

...will allow each of the MLS franchises to sign one player that would be considered outside of the teams' salary cap, estimated to be around US$1.9 million in 2006 (the amount will be raised for the 2007 season), allowing U.S. teams to compete in the International soccer market for star players.

Hopefully his comrades don't mind the fact that he's about to make more in five years than they'll probably make in their lives. Although, we hope he draws the crowds, because LA Galaxy's spending a lot of fucking money on this fool. Even Conrad Gates wasn't worth that much.

England’s Manchester City Football Club has partnered with gay rights group, Stonewall in a bid to attract more gay fans. In a sport rife with homophobic fans, the alliance marks an important first step.

One planned tactic is recruiting openly gay staff. Hmmm…call us crazy, but do most gay soccer fans really care about what goes on in the manager’s office? Still, the scheme is promising, especially if it involves some pro-homo publicity – photos and all. Although, we've just taken a little poke around their site, and they may do well to sign some more attractive players, as well.

Brit Soccer Team Loves the Homos [The Guardian]

• Because you need another World Cup website, Objectivo launches. [Objectivo]

• More than 100,000 signatures have been collected protesting Jersualem's August gay pride march, declaring "holding of such a parade in Jerusalem, of all places, is a great blow at the ages-old Jewish character of the city and its holy values, for the Jewish and non-Jewish public in Israel and around the world." [Arutz Sheva]

• Though gay couples in the Czech Republic can now legally wed, few are choosing to do so with the media spotlight turned on. [365 Gay]

• And lastly, we won't be publishing tomorrow, given the Fourth of July holiday. One half of Queerty is spending it in Toronto, where it's just another summer day; the other half will be in sticky New York City, watching the fireworks shoot off from the East River. Where, what, and with whom are you spending your Fourth? (And for more on how the Fourth of July is gay, click here.)

World Cup hotness isn't only taking place on the field. In the stands is where the real action is, with fans stealing the scene from the David Beckhams and Brian McBrides.

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• Gay Australian soccer fans are having a hard time expressing their love for the sport. The AFL Players Association demanded GayFooty.com.au remove photos of its players. Did we mention the photos were of footballers in the lockerroom? [The Age]

• Sometimes it's necessary to discriminate against heterosexuals. It's good for democracy. [LifeSite]

• Afro Sole 2006 (that's gay black pride, for those not in the know) kicks off in Los Angeles today, with The Real World's Karamo on hosting duties for the beach party. [ATBLA]

• DSquared2's new swimsuit offerings don't leave much to the imagination. And that's exactly how we like it. [Made In Brazil]

Sure, Ghana may have beat us 2-1 last week in the World Cup, but that doesn't mean we've lost any amount of affection for our footballers. Especially when they keep taking their shirts off like Brian McBride, above.

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• Gay rights: Hollywood plotline? That's what it looks like for Adam Sandler and Kevin James' new vehicle, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. The film – currently in pre-production – has Sandler and James posing as gay firefighting lovers to get domestic parternship benefits. Are gays the punchline, or is this a sign we've moved beyond Queer Eye-ification? [IMDB]

• Stephen Dorff claims he's surprised he's not gay, given his childhood proclivity to watch women getting ready. [Sky]

• Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo is officially the top World Cup pinup, at least according to Dutch homo rag Gay Krant. He beat out second-placer Markus Rosenberg, followed by England's Michael Owen and David Beckham, to seal his affection from gay fans worldwide. [Pink News]

Well it's been a great week of soccer players in honor of the World Cup. We've traveled from the Ukraine to the U.S. to the Netherlands and now we're in Germany, where the young Lukas Podolski takes us into the weekend. He's quite a show-off on the field, always lifting up his shirt, and we have nothing but encouragement for this type of behavior.

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Keeping with soccer week, today we bring you Rafael van der Vaart, a tall, young, and hairy-legged footballer from the Netherlands. We just may get excited by the World Cup yet...

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