Footballer Joey Barton is not amused one bit by a cheeky article by Martin Samuel of the Daily Mail in the UK, suggesting that the midfielder should come out as gay.

MANCHESTER, England -- Manchester United goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard has spoken out about homophobia, saying homosexuality in football is a "taboo topic."

The 28-year-old Danish footballer is urging players and fans to address the problem, especially to help young gay players to not give up the sport due to a fear of prejudice.

In a blog for gambling website Betfair, he said:

"Gay football is a taboo topic, we footballers would rather not have anything to do with it.

When hunky Welsh rugby player Gareth Thomas came out at the height of his sports career, he became one of the very few openly gay active professional athletes in the world.

Since his retirement from his sport last fall, Thomas was voted the most influential gay person in the UK, receiving Stonewall’s hero of the year award in 2010, and proved his credentials as a positive role model during his time in the Celebrity Big Brother house earlier this year.

His inspirational story is now being made into a feature film with Oscar nominee Mickey Rourke as star.

UK athletes including gay rugby legend Gareth Thomas are supporting a new report which found homophobia in schools puts many LGBT students off sport.

The study published today (Oct. 31) by Britain's National Union of Students (NUS) found that almost half of those in college and university who do not participate in any sport at college or university (46.8%) find the culture of sport to be alienating and 41.9% said they had a negative experience at school which has meant that they don’t want to get involved.