Adelaide player Brett Burton is pictured with a placard that says: ''We all have our little differences - celebrate them!'' Geelong football manager Neil Balme's reads: ''Homophobic His-story!'' Bulldogs ruckman Will Minson wrote in ''Nil bastardum carborundum'', which is mock-Latin for ''don't let the bastards grind you down''. Because of its profile, football has often seen itself in the vanguard of social change, spearheading anti-racism campaigns and promoting respect towards women. But the game may have trouble convincing people to believe its new-found acceptance of homosexuals, given that not one player in the league is openly gay. Channel Nine personality and Collingwood president Eddie McGuire recently told gay magazine DNA that he had shared a ''wink and a nod'' with gay AFL players. And new research by Victoria University shows that gay men believe Australian rules is the most hostile football code, with many saying they feel too threatened to play the game.

''The fact that we have no out players is not the problem of the players, it is indicative of the somewhat hostile sporting landscape,'' said Rob Mitchell, a member of the state government's Sport Governance and Inclusion project, who helped Dr Pippa Grange, the Players' Association's general manager of culture and leadership, with the campaign. The project comes less than a year after AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou declared that homophobia was unacceptable in football. Mr Demetriou told The Sunday Age: ''Homophobia has no place in our game. The AFL altered our rules last year, to ensure that we stand against any discrimination on the basis of sexual identity or orientation. ''I congratulate the players who are leading the way in ensuring we continue to welcome each and every person to our game." Dr Grange said no crisis had triggered the project - unlike the ''respect women'' campaign, which followed scandals involving players accused of degrading women, and a similar campaign against racism.

The Players' Association says footballers know how it feels to suffer negative stereotyping and want to help another group of maligned individuals. Though not scheduled to be launched until closer to the International Day Against Homophobia Day, held annually on May 17, the project is already considered a success because so many players and coaches are involved. An attempt at a similar campaign by English soccer authorities failed earlier this year because players would not take part. Dr Grange said that every player approached signed up immediately. ''They were open and supportive of efforts to reduce hatred and invite inclusion,'' she said. The project was designed so that there were no poster boys for the gay cause and the focus is dispersed widely within football.

Dr Grange said: ''Sexuality is an enormous part of our identity, is deeply personal and people should never be forced to make public statements about it.'' General statistics show that about 10 per cent of people may be homosexual - meaning mean up to 35 current players could be gay - but gay men may ''self select'', choosing not to play certain sports. Mr Mitchell said the project would ''lower the overall perceived hostility to someone who is not straight [and] if you keep doing that, at some point, the players who aren't straight in the AFL will just go, 'Why would I bother hiding my sexual orientation, there's no need,' and so then they start turning up to the Brownlow with their boyfriend.'' He said the campaign might improve the standard of football because any gay player would feel supported by the AFL hierarchy and his teammates, and would be able to concentrate on his game and not have to put energy into maintaining a ''double life''. The Victoria University research, based on a survey of 308 people and to be published next month, found the most common sports that gay men would like to play but did not, or felt they could not, were Australian rules football (45 per cent), rugby (17.5 per cent) and soccer (10 per cent).

Loading Dr Caroline Symons, the main author of the Come Out to Play report, said that overall 46 per cent of gays surveyed who played mainstream sport were not out, with many saying they feared being judged and abused. With MARIS BECK