The Twitter account of a man claiming to be a gay professional footballer has been deleted after he allegedly backed out of a press conference to reveal his identity on Wednesday.
Two final tweets from ‘The Gay Footballer’ said he was “not strong enough to do this”, but insisted it “isn’t a hoax”.
He added: “Call me all the names under the sun, belittle me and ridicule me, a lot will, and I can’t change that, but I’m not strong enough to do this. Just remember that I’ve got feelings, without coming out I can’t convince anybody otherwise, but this isn’t a hoax.
“I wouldn’t do that.”
The account began posting on social media at the beginning of July and had amassed a following of around 50,000 people.
A statement posted from the account earlier this month said the player’s identity would be revealed once he has prepared himself for the announcement.
“This afternoon I requested a meeting with both my manager and the club chairman,” the statement read.
“At this meeting I revealed to both gentlemen that I am a homosexual man, I explained that I had only yesterday come out to my family.”
While the tweets received a largely positive response, the account holder did flag up some abuse aimed at him since it was opened, the Press Association reports.
There are no active professional male footballers in England who are openly gay.
The Football Association marched at Pride in London for the first time on Saturday while they have backed Stonewall’s rainbow laces campaign in recent years.
Former Aston Villa midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger is one of the most high-profile figures to come out as gay in recent times.
The ex-Germany international had already retired before making his sexuality public, with the player purportedly behind the Gay Footballer account claiming to be under the age of 23 as he prepares to follow suit.
“I’m a professional footballer, playing for a club in the @SkyBetChamp. I will be revealing my identity soon, but I am a proud gay man, hoping to break the mould. I am under the age of 23, and today I came out to my family. Soon, I will come out publicly,” he tweeted on Friday.