Josh Cavallo, 22, who became world famous after “coming out” on social media in October and becoming the only current openly gay top-flight male soccer player and was celebrated for his bravery by some of the best soccer players in the world, has now been witness to the flip side of that announcement. In an Australian soccer league match against Melbourne Victory, Cavallo was the blunt of the abuse of vile rival supporters as the “fans” yelled homophobic statements at the left-back.
Cavallo entered the match in the second half and when the game ended it was then that Melbourne Victory fans began to harass Cavallo by yelling homophobic remarks at him. Distraught by what he had to endure; the Australian soccer player took to Instagram to vent, only to find out that he had also received abuse on the social platform as well.
On Instagram, Cavallo shared his thoughts about what had just occurred and received the support of his club, Adelaide United. Here are Josh Cavallo thoughts on the homophobic abuse he suffered in Adelaide United match against Melbourne Victory.
Josh Cavallo takes to Instagram to vent over receiving abuse by Melbourne Victory fans
Joshua Cavallo of Adelaide United (Photo by Jonathan DiMaggio/Getty Images)
On Instagram Josh Cavallo stated, “I’m not going to pretend that I didn’t see or hear the homophobic abuse at the game last night. There are no words to tell you how disappointed I was. This shouldn’t be acceptable, and we need to do more to hold people accountable. I will never apologize for living my truth and most recently who I am outside of football. To Instagram I don’t want any child or adult to have to receive the hateful and hurtful messages that I’ve received. I knew truly being who I am that I was going to come across this. It’s a sad reality that your platforms are not doing enough to stop these messages… Thank you to all the positive messages, love and support, seeing that far outweighs the negativity. To the individuals that reached out after making a stand at the game. I commend you. Thank you to those fans, you had me emotional. Love will always win.”
Adelaide United seconded the sentiments of their player by issuing a statement, “Adelaide United is proud to be an inclusive and diverse football club, and to see one of our players subjected to homophobic abuse is disappointing and upsetting. We will continue to work with the Australian Professional Leagues and Melbourne Victory to identify perpetrators and prosecute them accordingly.”
