Lesbian Football/Soccer Players

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Out lesbians in professional football/soccer are quite prevalent and prominent in their sport. This occurs across a broad swathe of regions and countries, and is in marked contrast to the situation in men's professional sports. In fact, women's football had the most out players of all sports included in the 2016 Olympic Summer Games.

The reason for this is entirely because of the culture of acceptance within the governing bodies of the sport, the teams, and among the players themselves. This culture has been present since the organizational beginning of the sport. This evolution is reflected in the large number of former out players who have remained in the sport and graduated to become either lesbian coaches or managers. The most prominent of these include Germany's Steffi Jones (now with senior management at FIFA), Sweden's Pia Sundhage (former coach of the American national team), and Great Britain's Hope Powell (coach of their national team).

The majority of these professional football/soccer athletes play not only on teams in local sports leagues, but also on national teams. They compete in regional divisions, world cups, and the Olympic games. Some have become household names in their home countries due to their success in representing their country. American Abby Wambach is so popular that toy company Mattel launched a new Barbie design dedicated to her on her retirement in 2015 and after she won two Olympic gold medals, a World Cup, and was named U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year a record six times. Wambach has been open about her sexual orientation throughout her life and career and married her long time partner in 2013.




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