How can Jordan Henderson square LGBT+ support with a move to Saudi Arabia?

The Liverpool footballer is following in the footsteps of an increasing number of players cashing in for the final years of their careers – but they will have to get used to accusations of hypocrisy, writes Martin Chilton

England international Henderson wearing a rainbow armband during a Liverpool match last season (Reuters)

Beware of not practising what you preach is a lesson Jordan Henderson has been forced to learn in making his move from Liverpool to Saudi Pro League (SPL) club Al-Ettifaq – a transfer that reportedly earns him £700,000 a week tax-free.

In football terms, Henderson is doing little different from all the other thirtysomethings jumping on private jets to trade cash for credibility, but what makes his move to a country where homosexuality is illegal so hard to understand is that it comes in the wake of his much-vaunted “support” of LGBT+ people.

In November 2021, extolling his Rainbow Laces credentials in a lengthy column for the Liverpool FC programme, Henderson wrote: “I do believe when you see something that is clearly wrong and makes another human being feel excluded you should stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them.” Quite how Henderson stands shoulder to shoulder with men in a country where being gay is criminalised is unclear.

Former Germany footballer Thomas Hitzlsperger, who announced he was gay in 2014 after retiring from playing, said that England midfielder Henderson has killed stone dead his “brand” as an ally of the LGBT+ community. One day, when he’s banked all his riches, Henderson may regret a decision that tarnishes his reputation. To quote Oscar Wilde, “no man is rich enough to buy back his past.”

In moving to Saudi Arabia, Henderson is just one of many ageing stars following the lead of Cristiano Ronaldo, a monumentally brilliant footballer in his pomp and such a dismal preening peacock as he ekes out his twilight playing days in the Gulf sun.

Footballers are entitled to secure their financial futures, of course, and hurtling off like rapacious Looney Tunes prospector Yosemite Sam to exploit “the gold in them thar hills” is nothing new. But they should just be honest. They had a price, and the Saudis knew it. A few years ago, before match-fixing scandals and financial chaos, the Chinese Super League was the destination for busted-flush footballers looking for a final bonanza. Former Manchester United star Carlos Tevez, who languidly went through the motions for Shanghai Shenhua, was candid enough to admit, “I was on holiday for seven months in China.”

The SPL will not make the same mistakes as China. It has state backing (the Public Investment Fund) and a strategy for expansion. The 18 top-tier clubs are now allowed eight foreign players, a decision that kick-started the ongoing frenzied raid on European-based veterans. Glitzy arrivals tie into Saudi plans to sweeten Fifa into awarding them host status for the 2030 World Cup. And, let’s face it, Fifa has always been open to sweeteners. Saudi Arabia also invests heavily in golf, Formula One and snooker. They want to attract Western tourists and engage a wealthy home market (63 per cent of whom are under 30).

It is easy to understand why Premier League players approaching the end of their careers are taking Saudi paycheques, but it’s fantasy to claim they will play at the highest level any more. This is retirement league football, where you pay no income tax.

More dismal are the moves of younger players such as Wolves’ skilful midfielder Rúben Neves (26), Celtic’s Portuguese winger Jota (24) and – if rumours are correct – Newcastle’s exhilarating winger Allan Saint-Maximin (26) joining the SPL.

Project SPL also involves hiring well-known coaches such as ex-West Ham boss Slaven Bilić (Al Fateh) and ex-Spurs boss Nuno Espírito Santo (Al-Ittihad), although it’s unlikely that wealthy managers of the calibre of Ancelotti/Guardiola/Klopp/Arteta will be interested. The SPL have sufficed with Steven Gerrard, out of work since being shown the door at Aston Villa after 11 inglorious months.

All of which indicates that the richest entertainment could be away from sumptuous, air-conditioned stadiums. I’ve already enjoyed the comic viral video of Gerrard’s first training session in Dammam, prior to Henderson’s transfer, as he asks, “Who wants it? Who wants it? You want it? Tell me then. Tell me then”, before shouting “No communication” to a squad of local players presumably bemused by his thick scouse accent.

It’s becoming something of Mersey Arabia, incidentally. Gerrard’s pal Robbie Fowler has washed up as boss of First Division side Al Qadsiah. Fowler, a prolific goalscorer in his Liverpool days, previously tried management in Thailand, Australia and East Bengal. He insisted he was making the move “because I am ambitious”. Fowler’s first signing was 29-year-old Wirral-born Wigan midfielder Max Power. Maybe Fowler promised his Saudi bosses “max power” and they didn’t realise he was being literal.

The circus goes on. It’s been widely reported that Al-Ettifaq have already doctored any images of Henderson in his Liverpool kit that show him wearing the rainbow armband, turning the images grey. It’s a perfect metaphor for the whole “project”.