Gay former football referee speaks out after Home Secretary World Cup comments

A gay former professional football referee from Long Eaton has said that he can understand why LGBTQ fans would not feel comfortable going to the World Cup next month.

In Qatar, it is illegal to be gay and can be punishable by death. Last week, the UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly caused a stir by saying that English fans should show flexibility and compromise if they are going to the tournament in the United Arab Emirates. James Adcock says that fans shouldn’t compromise on who they are. 

He said: "We should be out there and we should be proud, not to take everything and go, 'Hey, I'm James Adcock, I'm here to promote being gay'.  It is about being us as a person and we're representing our country as a fan, as a player, and just being ourselves."

James added that despite what has been said, he would probably be confident enough to go: "I would do it out of my confidence that I've got and my sexuality, so I wouldn't have an issue, but I can completely understand people that are reserved and would say 'I can't do this' and quite rightly."