Adelaide United midfielder
Josh Cavallo
has revealed he is gay, becoming the first openly gay footballer to come out during his stint in the Australian A-League.
"I'm a footballer and I'm gay," the 21-year-old said on social media, eliciting supportive comments from his team, the A-League and Football Australia. Cavallo, who represented Australia at the under 20 level, said he no longer wanted to keep his sexuality a secret. "All I want to do is play football and be treated the same," he said. "Trying to perform to the best of your ability and to live this double life is exhausting, it's something I don't want anyone to experience."
"I remember - he added - reading about Justin Fashanu who became the first male professional footballer to come out, in the 90s, and then eight years after he took his own life, this worried me."
But Cavallo described the support from the club, teammates and officials as "immense", saying he wanted to be a positive role model for gay footballers.
"It is ok to be gay and to play football, I want to show it to all the other people who are struggling and afraid," he stressed.