The only German footballer to have come out is Marcus Urban, who told his teammates in 1997 and promptly ended his professional career. There are no openly gay players in Germany's Bundesliga, reflecting the situation across the football world, although it is estimated that about 10% of players are gay. So professional footballers should own up to their preference,' he said. 'We've got a gay vice-chancellor the Berlin mayor is gay. The 25-year-old, who was voted German footballer of the year in 2006-7, added that there were plenty of role models in the rest of German society to give gay players the courage to come out. 'Being gay should no longer be a taboo topic.' 'They would play as if they had been liberated,' Gomez said. But Gomez, who has not said whether he is gay, told a German magazine that being honest about their sexuality would improve gay players' performance.
