International rugby referee Nigel Owens told Pat Kenny today that some of Neil Francis' comments yesterday about homosexuality in sport are coming from someone who is 'living in the dark ages.'
Francis pointed out that most of gay people he has spoken with have little or no interest in sport; to which Owens has said 'I don't know the company that Neil Francis keeps and who he has sat down and spoken to but he certainly hasn't spoken to a lot of people that I know who are playing sport and rugby in particular.'
'When you come out with a comment of ''Listen, you know, I have no interest in ballet'' or whatever, well that just sums it all up of somebody who is living in the dark ages and is stereotyping people quite wrongly.'
Owens, who also posted a response to Francis' comments on his Facebook page, went on to say:
I think he needs to think long and hard before he comes out with statements like this of what harm he's doing to young people who are really struggling with who they are. You know I came to within a few minutes of taking my own life and there are a lot of other people who are still in that situation, and remarks like this don't help people.
Both Owens and Francis will be guests on The Last Word on Today FM this evening at around 6.30pm. You can listen to Nigel Owens' interview with Pat Kenny below and to Neil Francis' comments here.
