Ex-referee Nicolas Pottier reveals his homosexuality hoping to “get things done”

As if freed from a weight. “For five years, I lived totally hidden. With nothing in terms of social life. ” Living his homosexuality in the world of football is not easy, and Nicolas Pottier knows it well. The former referee, who officiated in Ligue 1 from 2005, has just come out, like Blackpool footballer Jake Daniels. He surrendered to West France.

“It’s been eating at me for ten years,” he says. But I needed an angle of attack, an opportunity. She came with a topical question, on the Gana Gueye affair. I had tweeted to condemn his attitude, a journalist called me. I thought it was time… I just think it can help things along. Help those who are going through the same thing as me, but don’t dare to express it. »

A coming out which has sparked various reactions, “but above all thousands of positive relays on social networks”, insists Nicolas Pottier, who received a phone call from the secretary general of the federation, Laura Georges. “This may help the Fed… We needed a No. 1, someone who gets started. I did it. I made mistakes, I erased them. I am not afraid. I freed myself from a weight. “And to conclude with words that speak for themselves: “I feel good about myself. I feel strong. »