Bundesliga: Gay football coach: hide-and-seek games “absolutely grueling”

At the end of March, Dobrick made his homosexuality public. Prominent football personalities such as former national coach Julian Nagelsmann, Bayern Munich’s honorary president Uli Hoeneß and women’s national coach Christian Wück then spoke out in favor of a more open approach to homosexuality in football.

“I didn’t expect it to be so big. I thought it would be news and reported on. But the flood of reactions surprised me. After all, I’m not a national player,” said Dobrick looking back. The reactions from his personal environment and from his players were consistently positive.

“The hide-and-seek games were absolutely grueling”

“But of course there are other voices too. Occasionally I was insulted, for example as a ‘dirty fag who should find Jesus,'” the football coach reported about hate messages on social media. “You can’t report everyone. I don’t want to take the time to deal with people like that,” he said.

For him, coming out was about gaining quality of life. “The hide-and-seek games were absolutely grueling. You’re constantly thinking: What am I doing? When am I doing it? Who am I telling? When you’re 29 and still have a few years ahead of you in football, at some point you have to ask yourself whether that’s the way you want to live in the long term,” explained the Flensburg native.

Homosexuality is still a taboo topic in men’s professional football, although fan representatives in particular are campaigning for a more open approach. There has so far been no coming out of an active professional in the top three German leagues. In women’s football, however, a player’s sexual orientation has long ceased to play a role.