Antonio Cassano under fire from activists over gay comments

Cassano8217;s reply was in the spirit of the often macho environment of sport and sports reporting and caused great laughter among the Italian press corps.

But his use of the word 8220;frocho8221; is highly controversial as it8217;s an insult akin to 8220;queer8221; or 8220;poof8221;.

8220;What8217;s a metrosexual?8221; he asked the questioner before adding: 8220;If they8217;re queer,that8217;s their problem. I hope there aren8217;t any queers in the national team.

8220;But if they8217;re queer,it8217;s their business. Are there any? I don8217;t know.8221;

Cassano is well known for his controversial behaviour and comments and there is even a slang phrase based on his name that is in common usage in Italy which means to do something stupid: a cassanata.

Although assembled journalists found his comments highly amusing,the Gay Centre in Italy has reacted with outrage.

8220;Cassano says 8220;cassanate8221; stupid things about gays showing his arrogance and irresponsibility,8221; said spokesman Fabrizio Marrazzo in a statement.

8220;Unifying sport and homophobia gives a dangerous message,especially to the young.

8220;Cassano has shown that he has no respect,not only from a sporting perspective but from a human one,towards the many who follow him and consider him a great player.

8220;He would deserve at least a yellow card if not an expulsion from the European Championships. It is a relief at least that the coach Cesare Prandelli thinks differently.8221;