‘Draconian’: Gay footballer Josh Cavallo blasts Fifa over rainbow armband ban – The Indian Express
“All my life growing up, I’ve learned to live a life of lies,” the Australian footballer Josh Cavallo would say in the change room. Around him clustered were his team-mates and support staff: Serious, arms around their chest, scratching the chin, staring at him quietly, intently. With his hands clasped together, Cavallo continues in a steady voice: “For the last six years, I have been struggling with my sexuality. Today I would be coming out to the public that I am gay footballer”. And with those words, he had just come out to his team in 2021.
The footage from the documentary cuts to the post-chat to scenes of players hugging him. He would later say how, “30 seconds after I made that announcement, me and the boys went straight back to talking about football and everything was normal again … It’s been a journey to get to this point in my life, but I couldn’t be happier with my decision to come out. Adelaide United has made me realise football is more than just a game — it is a family.”
Cavallo is a rare male top-flight professional footballer in the world to come out as gay.
It’s not the first time we’ve heard
‘Stick to football.’The attacks
on the LGBTQ+ community from
World Cup leaders affects so
many who live in silence because
of your draconian ways. To be a
great leader in sport, one must
never give up trying to bring ALL
people together ❤️ pic.twitter.com/rKLhfAl7KI— Josh Cavallo (@JoshuaCavallo) November 20, 2022
On Monday, Cavallo was angry and upset with FIFA, the governing body of football, who banned the use of rainbow bracelets during the Qatar world cup. There were talks that English captain Harry Kane and Netherlands would wear the bracelet but after hectic last-minute negotiations, where reportedly a threat of being booked was issued, the players changed their minds.
“FIFA banned all teams from wearing the ‘One Love’ bracelet in support of the LGBTQ+ community at the World Cup. At FIFA they lost my respect,” Cavallo wrote on his Instagram account. “All the work that my allies and the LGBTQ+ community are doing to make football inclusive, showed that it is not a place open to everyone,” he said.
“I love my identity,” the Adelaide United player wrote. “Seeing you have banned all teams to wear the One Love armband to actively support LGBTQ+ at the World Cup. You have lost my respect … It’s not the first time we’ve heard ‘stick to football. The attacks on the LGBTQ+ community from World Cup leaders affects so many who live in silence because of your draconian ways. To be a great leader in sport, one must never give up trying to bring all people together.”
Back in October 2021, after coming out to his team-mates, he would go public with a video on Adelaide United website. The video starts with him almost talking to himself .. “I don’t know what else to say …” and then he lets out an audible outtake of breath, steadies himself and plunges on.
“Hi everyone, I am at my home in Adelaide. There is something personal I need to share with everyone. I am a footballer and I am gay,” he says staring into the camera.
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“Growing up, I always felt the need to hide myself as I was ashamed. I was ashamed that I wouldn’t be able to do what I love, being gay. Hiding who actually I am and pursuing a dream I wished for as a kid. All I want to do is to play football and be treated equally.”
His voice begins to break down a bit as he says, “I am tired of trying to perform to the best of your ability and to live this double life. It’s exhausting. It’s something that I don’t want anyone to experience. I thought people would think of me differently when I come out , they would start treating me badly or make fun of me – that’s not the case. If anything they give more respect. The response and support has been incredible, immense. It’s starting to make me think why I have been hiding it for so long. I don’t want to inspire people: It’s okay to be gay and play football. I want to show all other people who are struggling and scared – don’t act like someone who you are not meant to be. You are meant to be yourself. Don’t act like someone you are not. Be yourself. Through coming out, I want to show everyone the true Josh Cavallo.”
Before he came out to his team-mates, he had told his coaches at Adelaide United Carl Veart and Ross Aloisi. “Josh, you’re still the exact same person, we still love you for who you are. You’re a talented kid and we want what’s best for you,” he told ESPN what they said. “And that really touched my heart. It was very heartwarming going forward. I was very confident when I told the team, and they welcomed me with their arms open. They said the exact same thing and ‘we’re proud of you and we’re glad that you’re comfortable in your own skin.’ It was a very symbolic moment for me and I’m definitely going to remember it for the rest of my life.”
— Josh Cavallo (@JoshuaCavallo) October 27, 2021
Not that it stopped the homophobic episodes. This January, at the AAMI stadium in Melbourne, he had to face homophobic taunts from the crowd.
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“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. As a society this shows we still face these problems in 2022, he wrote on Instagram. “This shouldn’t be acceptable and we need to do more to hold these people accountable. Hate never will win. I will never apologise for living my truth and most recently who I am outside of football.”
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He was also targeted on Instagram and would write, “To Instagram I don’t want any child or adult to have to receive the hateful and hurtful messages that I’ve received,” he said. “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.”