Symbolic figure for some, object of hate for others: Borja Iglesias and his fight against macho behavior in football

The supposed Sevilla fans shouted “shit faggot” at the Vigo striker, who used to play for city rivals Real Betis. “Go paint your nails.” Iglesias didn’t respond. Either because he didn’t hear her. Or because he didn’t want to do them the favor.

After all, it wasn’t the first time he had been insulted like that. And it wouldn’t be the last time that he responded confidently. When the video later went viral on social media, Iglesias commented wryly: “How strange. This never happens in football.”

That’s Borja Iglesias, who will play with his favorite club Vigo in the quarter-finals of the Europa League against SC Freiburg on Thursday (9 p.m., RTL). In Germany, the 33-year-old is best known for his short stint at Bayer Leverkusen, with the team he won the championship and the DFB Cup in 2024. At home, however, he is seen as a symbolic figure in the fight against homophobia and misogyny. As one of the few who raises his voice and advocates for a different understanding of masculinity in football.

Iglesias has not lived up to the stereotype of a macho athlete for years. He paints his nails, carries designer handbags, and enjoys talking about literature and photography. Alongside like-minded teammates like Hector Bellerin and Aitor Ruibal, he became a pioneer during his time at Betis. In addition to a lot of support, they also received a lot of hate.

Iglesias would rather be a “faggot” than someone full of hate

This used to bother him, Iglesias recently admitted in an interview with the French sports newspaper “L’Équipe”. Now, like in Seville, he can shake it off better. “When someone says something like that to me, I always think: I would rather be a ‘faggot’ than someone full of hatred who has nothing better to do than insult people after a football game.”

What bothers him is that gay footballers could be intimidated by such behavior: “If you can’t show yourself and love who you want, then that’s unacceptable.”

This is one of the reasons why Iglesias has long been campaigning against homophobia in football. In 2023 he produced a video in which he staged his own “coming out” as a heterosexual and the resulting shitstorm. “It would never happen like that. Why the other way around?” the striker asked at the end of the clip.

Unlike many well-meaning men in professional football, Iglesias doesn’t shy away from giving deep answers to this question. He doesn’t just demand tolerance. He questions the entire culture of masculinity in his industry: at all levels.

For example, in the summer of 2023, when the head of the Spanish association Luis Rubiales triggered a huge discussion about machismo and misogyny in football with his attack on national player Jenni Hermoso. When Rubiales refused to resign in the wake of the scandal, Iglesias withdrew from the national team in protest. It was only in the fall of 2025, when Rubiales had long since left, that he returned to the Selección.

For him, the problem starts in the youth sector. In the boarding schools of professional clubs, young players grow up in an exclusively male environment, he explained to “L’Équipe”. “You grow up with these social pressures that make you see women only as objects of desire.”

He doesn’t see much alternative worldviews in Spanish football. Fashion-conscious players like David Beckham or Guti began to project a different masculinity in the 2000s. But 20 years later, there is still “a lot to do” for Iglesias.

The reaction to the incident in Seville at least provided a glimmer of hope. At the following Celta home game, all players and many fans wore painted nails to express their solidarity with the striker and the LGBTIQ community. Nevertheless, Iglesias sees far too much tolerance for homohatred and misogyny in football.

“Football allows a lot of things. If you play well, any behavior will be forgiven. That has to change,” said the national player. Unfortunately, the same calculation also applies in reverse to people like him. “If I paint my nails and score 25 goals, everyone thinks I’m great. The day I stop scoring, that suddenly becomes a problem.”