England star Jordan Henderson has officially announced that he has joined Ittifaq FC, with a reported salary of up to £700,000 (about HK$7 million) per week. However, the news of the move has sparked an outcry from the LGBTQ community, with former German international Heath Pega, who came out publicly in 2014, recently speaking out and denouncing Jordan Henderson as a "hypocrite," arguing that his past support of the Rainbow Movement was merely cosmetic.
Jordan Henderson was once seen as a leading figure in the LGBTQ movement in the ball game and has repeatedly expressed his support for the community in public. However, this move to join a national club where there is oppression of gay and women's rights is in stark contrast to his past stance. What is even more puzzling is that in the official video released by Ittifaq of Jordan Henderson joining the club, special effects were used to turn the rainbow armband that Jordan Henderson used to wear into black and white, a practice that raises questions about its true intentions.
