Soccer star Jordan Henderson received a not-so-warm welcome when he returned to Wembley Stadium Friday for a friendly match and was booed by fans.
It was the first time the Liverpool captain was back home since signing with a Saudi Arabian club over the summer, and the crowd wasn’t pleased.
The LGBTQ+ ally was recently criticized for deciding to play in Saudi Arabia, and pilloried for claiming it wasn’t about the money.
Following his hostile homecoming, Henderson sat down with an English TV station and… defended his move to one of the most anti-gay countries on earth???
He said he has “no regrets.”
“I think having someone like myself, with the values that I have, in Saudi Arabia is only a good thing,” he said. “Before I went to Saudi people knew the groups I supported and helped in the past.”
“My values haven’t changed as a person just because I’m going to a different country to play football.”
Girl, please.
Money talks
— Floris van Doorn (@favd393) October 18, 2023
Everytime he opens he mouth he just makes thing worse. Just be honest and say you couldn’t resist the Saudi blood money.
— tweetSP0RT (@tweetSP0RT) October 17, 2023
Still love the bloke, but he needs to keep his mouth shut and sack his PR team.
— Cllr Thomas Ashby (@thomas_ashby_) October 17, 2023
Henderson, 33, transferred from the Premier League to Saudi Arabia, and inked a $15 million deal with one of the kingdom’s pro clubs, Al Ettifaq.
While he will earn significant more than what he made at Liverpool, he said in a disastrous interview recently that money wasn’t his primary motivating factor.
“People will see this club come with loads of money and he’s just gone, ‘Yeah, I’m going.’ When in reality that just wasn’t the case at all. People can believe me or not, but in my life and my career, money has never been a motivation. Ever,” he told The Athletic.
Sure, Jan.
“Don’t get me wrong, when you move, the business deal has to be tight. You have to have financials, you have to feel wanted, you have to feel valued. And money is a part of that. But that wasn’t the sole reason. And these possibilities came up before money was even mentioned.”
That’s difficult to buy. Henderson is far from the first soccer star to bolt for Saudi cash: Champions League winners Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Riyad Mahrez also play in the country.
One-time gay icon David Beckham signed a $150 million deal to be Qatar’s tourism ambassador ahead of the 2022 World Cup, and claims the anti-LGBTQ+ Arab state is perfectly safe for gay people.
All of them, of course, sacrificed prestige for pay days. But Henderson refuses to admit that.
He even has the gall to say he’s been hurt — that’s right, hurt — by the backlash from LGBTQ+ fans.
“There can be a lot of criticism, a lot of negativity around me as a person. And that was difficult to take,” he said. “But I just feel as though, because I do care about different causes that I’ve been involved in, and different communities… I do care. And for people to criticize and say that I’d turned my back on them really, really hurt me.”
When news broke that Henderson signed with Al Ettifaq, Liverpool’s well-known LGBTQ+ supporters group, Kop Outs, said in a statement its members were “appalled” by his decision.
As Liverpool captain, Henderson was one of the most outspoken supporters of the Premier League’s rainbow laces campaign, and also wore a rainbow armband.
Shortly after signing with his Saudi team, he vowed he wouldn’t “disrespect the culture” by wearing rainbow laces or paraphernalia.
In other words: He doesn’t want to rock his money boat!
In response to Friday’s booing, Henderson can say he’s still the same person, and his values are no different. But the fact is, he’ll no longer be as outwardly supportive.
Out Scottish soccer star Zander Murray put it best when he told Henderson to stop the PR stunts.
Henderson is trying to play both sides, but his new uniform shows where he ultimately falls.
Fahd
This sort of article is an essential part of combating the process of “sportswashing” beng perpetrated by Saudi Arabia and other Arabian Gulf states. I guess that’s critical, but so be it, and stop insulting fans’ intelligence by maintaining you didn’t do it for the money.
“Sportswashing is a term used to describe the practice of individuals, groups, corporations, or governments using sports to improve reputations tarnished by wrongdoing.”
SDR94103
and yet here he is as a headliner on queerty. He should be banished.
linedrive
I’d rather queerty call out his betrayal. Ignoring such hypocrisy would be a disservice to their readers.
Noah
Ugh, we are not a monolith! It’s a job for him at the end of the day. If he aligned himself with their values and beliefs systems and was actively promoting them (cough David Beckham) then it would be different. We (LGBTQ folk) can be so fickle at times. He publicly supported us (no small thing in his industry) and then we criticise and disavow him the moment he does something that upsets the LGBTQ militants. It’s his career, he doesn’t owe us anything and if we treat those who speak out in support of us like that, we’ll have no allies left.
wooly101
Good for him, I would chase the money too. The guy has a career to cultivate after all. It doesn’t mean now he is homophobic.
ShaverC
Everyone who commented negatively would’ve done the same, for that amount of money.
linedrive
But money has never been a motivation for him. Ever.
ShaverC
15 million dollars is a big motivator.
storm45701
All I can say is: watch what people DO, not what they say.
Matthewnow
Article is useless without full frontal. Yes, it’s true. I’m an idiot.
johncp56
I need more money, but to aline with a country that treat women gays like cattles they own to do as they like, even kill, I have to say hard pass, and to the sports people already rich that joined shame shame scummy shame
LumpyPillows
For $15 million I would throw you irritating twits under the bus, gladly.
MrMichaelJ
For 20 bucks I’ll drive the bus 😉
Mr.Gavin Elster
We still have A-list entertainment and sports celebrities,and political leaders, who claim to be lgbtq+ allies staying at the Sultan of Brunei’s Dorchester Group of Hotels. Last time I checked, the Sultan, an ALL powerful leader, wanted to punnish his gay subjects with death, under his interpretation of Islamic Sharia law. The Beverly Hills Hotel, and the Hotel Bel Air are part of the Dorchester Group, Wolfgang Puck, who still caters the Academy Awards Govenor’s Gala, and countless Hollywood events, has two popular restaurants at the Bel Air, very popular with tinsel town big-wigs. Nancy Reagan and Merv Griffin ALWAYS celebrated their shared birthdays there. Jordan Henderson is NOT alone in the hypocrisy sweepstakes.