Adelaide United midfielder Josh Cavallo yesterday revealed that he is gay, becoming the first openly homosexual soccer player to come out while still playing in Australia’s A-League.
“I’m a footballer and I’m gay,” the 21-year-old declared on social media, prompting supportive comments from his team, the A-League and Football Australia.
Cavallo, who has represented Australia at the under-20 level, said that he no longer wanted to keep his sexuality a secret.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“All I want to do is play football and be treated equally,” he said.
“Trying to perform at the best of your ability and to live this double life, it’s exhausting — it’s something I don’t want anyone to experience,” Cavallo added.
Despite soccer’s immense popularity worldwide, only a few soccer players have come out as gay — mostly after they retire, to avoid the prospect of homophobic taunts from the spectators.
The first professional player to come out while still playing was Britain’s Justin Fashanu in 1990, but he never found acceptance in the game and hanged himself in 1998.
A charity set up by Fashanu’s family last year released a letter from an unnamed gay player in the English Premier League that highlighted how little soccer’s culture has changed.
The player said that his situation was “an absolute nightmare.”
“I feel trapped and my fear is that disclosing the truth about what I am will only make things worse,” Fashanu said in the letter.
Cavallo said that Fashanu’s case had preyed on his mind as he considered whether to come out.
“I remember reading about Justin Fashanu becoming the first male pro footballer to come out, in the 1990s, and then eight years later taking his own life — that did concern me,” he said.
However, Cavallo described the support from the club, teammates and officials as “immense,” saying that he wanted to be a positive role model for gay soccer players.
“It’s OK to be gay and play football — I want to show all the other people who are struggling and are scared,” he said.
Monash University researcher Erik Denison praised Cavallo, saying that his coming out was a significant moment that could become a catalyst for eradicating homophobia in Australian sport.
“Unfortunately, it is very rare for male players to come out to their teammates in both professional and amateur sport,” Denison said. “A significant reason why they are hesitant to come out is the constant use of homophobic language in male sport, which makes them feel unsafe and unwelcome.”
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike on Thursday helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win over local rivals RCD Espanyol, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining, to clinch Barcelona’s 28th title and complete a superb domestic treble. Only the UEFA Champions League title escaped an exciting young Barca side this season, as they won the league for the second time in six years, at Espanyol’s ground again just as in 2022-2023. Back then,
Jannik Sinner on Thursday marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China’s Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women’s singles final. American Gauff is to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in today’s title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner’s toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in
RSS