Former footballer Joe Cole and comedian Tom Allen have partnered with EE Hope United, an initiative addressing hate within football, to front its GayVAR campaign, aiming to tackle online homophobic abuse.

Allen commented 'The fact that language associated with homosexuality is still bandied around as an insult in 2023 is frankly ridiculous, and calling it out is a big first step to removing this stigma. Gone are the days of passing it off as "banter": it’s time people realised the far-reaching impact this kind of abuse can have'.