heterosexuals

Because of societal pressure and the criminality associated with men who have sex with men (MSM) in Kenya, Omondi Maina* married a woman. This is despite being involved in a homosexual relationship for the last 10 [detalii...]

Football Mans experiment ended in ignominy in Bloemfontein, in Gelsenkirchen, Shizuoka, Lisbon and CharleroiYes, but is he a football man?" For ever and a day, this has been the only question the FA appeared to consider when appointing directors to its board. "Football man" denotes innate - certainly ineffable - footballing wisdom, even in chaps whove taken more than one club down a couple of divisions and irredeemably into the red. It is traditionally applied to the likes of Phil Gartside, or Sir Dave Richards, so Im afraid I had always assumed "football man" was a euphemism for something else completely - another way of saying "lady part", in fact.Imagine the shock, then, to discover that tomorrow is the applications deadline for the two new independent executive directors the FA has finally agreed to appoint - and that the sports minister, Hugh Robertson, has been suggesting more women should be involved in running football. The FA chairman, David Bernstein, is said to be sympathetic.My first thought, naturally, was that I didnt fight in two world wars so the likes of Sir Dave would have to share a boardroom with a woman performing any other function than tea lady. And yet ... could this be the moment the balance shifted an iota (or the world ended, depending on your perspective)?It still seems unlikely. Despite Richard Keyss pre-sacking mea culpa, in which he quavered that he and Andy Gray had "failed to change while everything was changing around us", football is moving into the last century at a glacial pace. Manchester Citys female press chief was twice banned from the tunnel at Notts County this year - men only, alas - a decade after Karren Brady was barred from the Meadow Lane boardroom. Brady remains the only high-profile woman in English football.She is, however, the star of a classic tale, and one Im assured isnt apocryphal. Shortly after being appointed MD at Birmingham, Brady was introduced to the squad, only for one player to declare: "I can see your tits in that top." "Dont worry," she soothed, "when I sell you to Crewe you wont be able to see them from there, will you?" He was indeed transferred. I cant help but daydream of similarly withering repartee being bandied across the Wembley boardroom - pearls before swine though it might be.And swine they are, with rare exceptions. Odd how many people are silent on the troubling conflict of interest that sees the Premier League chairman also hold a seat on the FA board, but would shriek to the rafters about "tokenism" if a woman were considered for a nonexecutive directorship. Back in January Hugh Robertson described football as "the worst governed sport in the country" - and its a competitive field. It includes the LTA, the Jockey Club - whose members share a key characteristic with thoroughbreds, in that their teeth occupy more space in their heads than their brains - and the RFU.The chaps who run sport in this country do it appallingly, though obviously any suggestion that their incompetence is down to their maleness is far from serious. The brilliant Matthew Parris was once asked to write an article about a spate of sex scandals involving government ministers and Spectator staff and so on. Hed rather not get involved in the specifics, he wrote, knowing many of the parties involved. "But it has to be asked," he went on, mischievously, "should heterosexuals be permitted to occupy important or sensitive posts in our country?" He was as tolerant of diversity as the next man, he deadpanned, but "until society changes its attitude to the colourful tastes and exotic practices of so many of todays heterosexuals, then, adore them though we do, it might be better if they were restricted to careers in the arts, hairdressing and airline cabin crew, where their butterfly lifestyle is less likely to interfere with the exercise of their duties."And so with the gentlemen of the FA. Consider their track record - the bitchiness, the emotionalism, the strops that feel far more frequent than once a month, the tendency to sleep their way to the bottom ... It was a nice idea, but I fear Football Mans experiment in "having it all" has ended in ignominy. It has ended in ignominy, it has ended in Bloemfontein, in Gelsenkirchen, in Shizuoka, in Lisbon, in Charleroi ... We have all lost count of all the places it has ended, and under these circumstances I cant believe that simply chucking a tennis ball down Wembley High Street and employing the first woman it hit could work out worse than the "football man" recruitment policy that has got us where we are today.The FAMarina Hyde guardian.co.uk © 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More [detalii...]