Italian National Team and AC Milan forward Antonio Cassano was asked today in Poland about rumors of closeted gay players on his team.

He responded:

“Poofs in the national team? That’s their problem. But I hope not”.

The word in Italian he used was froci, which is slang that can be translated to mean “poof” or f*g.” Most media outlets just report that he used a “derogatory word toward gays.”

This is incredibly appalling considering if there are closeted players on the team, they fell all the more unwelcome on the team.

Update: Cassano later apologized (translation via Twitter user @agiamba): “I am truly sorry that my comments caused controversy and offended gay rights associations. I do not share the sentiments of homophobia, I didn’t want to offend anyone or call into question people’s sexual choices. I only said it’s an issue that doesn’t relate to me, and I don’t want to judge others choices, they should be respected.”

Choices? Clearly Cassano needs much more education into LGBT issues based on how he worded his weak “sorry that I offended people” apology.

Also today at Euro 2012 there are clashes between Russian and Polish fans (AP reports violence, ESPN says peaceful), a Polish city official thanked guests to his city for behaving like “civilized white people” and UEFA finally started looking into racist taunts directed toward Mario Balotelli.