Former England Player John Fashanu Admits He Paid Brother £75k Not to Reveal Homosexuality

Former England international John Fashanu has admitted to paying his brother Justin £75k not to publicly announce being gay before he committed suicide in 1998.

In an interview with Good Morning Britain, via the Telegraph, the ex-Wimbledon star spoke of his shame in attempting to convince his sibling to cover up his homosexuality. Fashanu said: "It was a lack of education. I make it very clear, I was a monster to Justin then. I paid him £75,000 not to say that he was gay.

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"I was looking at the situation around us and my mother had cancer and was dying, and the rest of the family couldn’t understand the situation. We didn’t know what to do, the best thing I thought to do was to keep it quiet.”

Fashanu also claimed that he knows of several Premier League footballers who are gay, and is called for the FA to step up their efforts in helping them to publicly come out. The 55-year-old said: "We have a number of well-known footballers who are gay and they don’t feel comfortable with the environment.

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“They know their empires will be destroyed. It is supporters, administrators... not so much the players because they know who is gay and who is not gay. They give each other support, but it is quite gentle support. We need more support from the FA because it’s a lack of education. The FA needs to create an environment where gay footballers are comfortable to come out and say ‘I’m gay’.

In other news, Fashanu's former club Norwich City are set to lose their star player James Maddison this summer, with reports claiming that the England under-21 international is set to move to Arsenal in a £30m deal. The 21-year-old has been in sensational form for the Canaries this season, and is widely considered as one of the top young talents in the country.