Openly gay soccer player still faces online death threats

ADELAIDE, Australia (AP) — The first openly gay man to play in Australia’s domestic soccer league says he’s still subject to death threats four years after going public about his sexuality.

Josh Cavallo, who plays for Adelaide United in the A-League, told the FIFPro Footballers Unfiltered podcast that “in a world of football, being a gay ... player is a very toxic place.”

“I still think we’re a very, very long way from being accepted in this space, unfortunately,” he said.

Cavallo was 21 in 2021 when he decided to come out, acknowledging his video message “took the world of football for a shock." He still regards it as “the best move and decision” he’s made, but warns that there’s “mountains of downside.”

In the podcast, he asked rhetorically: "Why has no one ever come out to be themselves and be successful and play?”

"And I understand that now looking back — all the negativity, all the things that come your way, there’s multiple, multiple, multiple death threats that come my way daily, still, and it’s quite sad to see.”

Cavallo didn't detail the online threats. He continues to train and play as a professional footballer every week.

“I have a very strong support network, I have my good days, I have my bad days, but I'm free," he said. "I go to bed, I put my head on the pillow and I'm happy. I'm Josh Cavallo, I'm the footballer ... the gay footballer, and I'm super proud to say that.”

Cavallo told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. on Wednesday that he still has positive experiences of meeting people who tell him they've been encouraged and inspired by his advocacy.

In his “everyday life," he said, people had approached him and “know who I am and speak to me and say how I guided them and how I give them the courage to come out at school.”

“On the other side," he added, "opening my social media this morning, it was quite disturbing reading the comments that got sent my way.”

He said when his club published a video of his announcement in 2021 it changed perspectives around the world, but there's still a long way to go for the sport to help remove the fear of public backlash for other players coming out.

“It’s obviously . . . influenced a lot of people and made so much progression within the game," he said of his life story, “and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

In 2022, he reported homophobic abuse during a game and he said it continues on social media.

“I don't really like to show this side of things because I feel like it's going to put fear into people who are thinking about coming out," he told the ABC. “What I did in 2021 was fantastic and great for myself and for the wider LGBTQ+ community, but ... we're four years on now and we're still getting (homophobic abuse) on a daily” basis.

Peter Malinauskas, premier of South Australia state where the Adelaide United club is based, said the vitriol Cavallo has faced is “beyond awful — it’s unacceptable.”

“It speaks to a degree of cowardice that we know that exists in the community," he said, adding that Cavallo deserved “a lot of credit for his courage.”

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

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