Openly Gay Footballer Joshua Cavallo Calls Out Homophobic Abuse Suffered During Recent Match
He also called upon social media companies to do better in preventing online abuse too.
Joshua Cavallo has been forced to call out the homophobic abuse he suffered during a recent A-League game.
The Adelaide United star made headlines a few months back when he announced that he was gay, thus becoming the first active male professional footballer to come out as homosexual.
On the whole, Cavallo received some overwhelmingly-positive support from people with some of the biggest names in world football personally reaching out to him to send love.
But unfortunately the 22-year-old has already become the target of vile homophobic slurs within the A-League terraces.
It's understood the abuse occurred during Adelaide United's 1-1 draw with Melbourne Victory at AAMI Park.
"I'm not going to pretend that I didn't see or hear the homophobic abuse at the game last night," Cavallo said in an Instagram post.
"There are no words to tell you how disappointed I was. As a society this shows we still face these problems in 2022.
"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.
"To all the young people who have received homophobic abuse, hold your heads up high and keep chasing your dreams. Know that there is no place in the game for this. Football is a game for everyone no matter of who you are, what colour your skin is or where you come from."
It's understood Melbourne Victory officials have launched an official investigation into the matter.
"The club is committed to celebrating diversity in football, and strongly condemns this behaviour which has no place in our club or in our game," the A-League club said in a statement.
"Melbourne Victory sees football as a platform to unite fans no matter what background. Spectators found to have breached these standards will be banned from future matches.
"The club is working with the League, stadium, and Adelaide United to investigate the matter further".
But it seems the football pitch isn't the only place where Cavallo has been the subject of rotten abuse.
Like many other high-profile athletes across the globe, the young Aussie is often bombarded with awful messages on social media too, leading for him to publicly call on Instagram to do more when it comes to preventing these sorts of things from happening.
"To @instagram I don't want any child or adult to have to receive the hateful and hurtful messages that I've received," he continued in the same Instagram post.
"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."
Topics: Football News, Adelaide United, Football, A-League, Social Media, Joshua Cavallo, Australia, Gay, Football News, Adelaide United, Football, A-League, Social Media, Joshua Cavallo, Australia, Gay
Max Sherry