Saturday, May 29, 2021 at 08:55• Daniel Cabot Kerkdijk • Last update: 09:12

Assistant referee Kevin Bodde isn’t afraid to talk about his sexuality. The 29-year-old resident of Zwolle, a police officer in daily life, falls for men and comes out because he wants to be himself. At the KNVB he has never had bad experiences from day one and football humor is also the order of the day. For example, the one time he was asked to pick up a shampoo bottle from the ground. “Yes, it had fallen. But, I said, I will not bend over for the Nivea brand, you know. That must at least be from Rituals.”

Bodde is not the only one in the (assistant) referee corps who likes men, but they prefer not to talk about it. “That’s because some are afraid of their careers abroad,” Bodde assured in conversation with it on Saturday Algemeen Dagblad. “You saw it in John Blankenstein. He would whistle the Champions League final in 1994, between AC Milan and Barcelona. But he was taken off that at the last minute. To this day, no explanation has ever been given about this. But I’m sure it was because of his sexuality. ”

Bodde is open about his homosexuality, even though this is taboo in football. He is convinced that he can only perform if he can be himself. The assistant referee is absolutely not in favor of it: “I’m not saying, ‘I’m gay Kevin’. No, I say: ‘My name is Kevin and I live with a man’. ” He knows that certain reactions can be very painful. “Now I can laugh when I hear that I have to put that flag up my ass. But that was really not the case before. I also had quite a bit of trouble when I heard people say gay or fagot very easily ”

“I know: that is common in the language of the public. But you hurt a lot of people with that. It’s no different in a stadium. ” It is different when it gets personal and its name is called. “Then a certain protocol comes into play. After a warning, the game will be stopped. ” However, he knows that such a situation can be ‘very difficult’ if it concerns a full stadium of Ajax or Feyenoord, even if that should not be a reason not to discontinue it. “Certainly not. And yet it happens. So it remains a difficult story. In all areas. Because if you do strike, they say again that the referee is a wimp, “Bodde points out in the daily newspaper on the possible reactions.

Bodde cannot help but conclude that being gay is still a taboo in the football world. He points out that agents are also holding it back. “Because they are afraid whether they can still sell their player to a nice club. That all plays a role. ” He understands that players do not come out. “The fear, eh.” Bodde states that society has less trouble with two women walking hand in hand and was angry at the time that Frank de Boer said that gays have no motor skills. “As if no gays play football in the Eredivisie. No idea if he is really gay. But I know one player anyway, whose name I’m obviously not going to mention, who likes men. ”