Russia have gained a surprise set of supporters in the World Cup. The Gays!
The Russian team – whether they know it or not – will be directly be directly funding a campaign to tackle homophobia in football. For every goal they score at this years tournament Paddy Power will pay £10,000 to fund causes dedicated to making football more LGBT+ Inclusive.
Working with Attitude’s Foundation, Paddy Power’s cash is going to:
Challenge LGBT+ prejudice on and off the field
Support footballers and those in the game in coming out
Fund educational programmes in schools and colleges
Make grass-roots teams safe spaces for LGBT+ players
And, most importantly
Wind up a few gammon-headed Russian homophobes – perfect
Commenting on the stunt, the marketing geniuses at Paddy Power said “Given they invented Russian Dolls, you’d be forgiven for thinking Russia wouldn’t have an issue with women being into other women… Likewise, their appreciation for bears is one shared around the world by the LGBT+ population, so it really is astonishing that they have not used their stewardship of this tournament to champion LGBT+ inclusivity.”
The stunt has caught the attention of a number of celebrities who are also backing the campaign, Ex-Olympian Caitlyn Jenner, Rugby Union legend Gareth Thomas, swimmer Mark Foster, international rugby referee Nigel Owens, England women’s internationals Lianne Sanderson and Jordan Nobbs, England cricketer Danni Wyatt, actor Christopher Biggins and choreographer Louie Spence have all revealed themselves to be ‘Rainbow Russians’ and are urging the LGBT+ population to stand in solidarity with Putin’s boys.
It’s not the first time Paddy Power have had gay adverts, here are some recent controversial examples supporting gay marriage in Ireland.
Russia kick off their World Cup campaign against Saudia Arabia at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium 16.00 BST on Thursday (June 14)