Basketball star John Amaechi gives moving testimony to MPs.

Committee inquiry into homophobia in sport heard the experiences of two sportsmen who have come out as gay.

Former basketball player John Amaechi told MPs he received regular death threats while Olympian Tom Bosworth spoke of having his head pushed through a window at a meeting of the Commons culture, media and sport committee this morning.

The two sportsmen were giving evidence to the committee's inquiry into homophobia in sport.

Amaechi, regarded as one of the world's highest profile gay sportsmen when he came out following his retirement from basketball in 2007, criticised football's governing bodies for not doing more to tackle homophobia on the pitch and in the stands.

He also took the opportunity to criticise US election hopeful Donald Trump comparing him to football managers who turn a blind eye to abuse. He said: "Trump is an example of leaders who tell people to read between the lines of what's acceptable."

Amaechi, who famously turned down a $17 million offer to switch clubs when he was playing in America's NBA league, said that homophobia in football in particular could be tackled because the FA and Premier League generate so much money from their sport. He said: "This is fundamentally and issue of will" and added: "Football has the resources to hire the best culture change people it wants."

But he added that there was a "toxic atmosphere" and he criticised the culture that dismisses homophobic terms as banter.

He movingly talked about being bullied at school despite being nearly seven feet tall and said that he receives around two death threats a year since coming out.

Olympic race walker Tom Bosworth also spoke about his school experiences where he had his head pushed through a window and was beaten up. However, since coming out last year ahead of his appearance at the Olympics and proposing to his partner in Rio he said social media was "an absolute killer" revealing he gets hundreds of negative messages.

By James Millar.

Culled from Total Politics.