"I'm a footballer and I'm gay" says Adelaide United's Josh Cavallo
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Adelaide United player Josh Cavallo has shared that he is gay, in an announcement online.
Josh is currently one of the only top-flight male professional football players in the world to have publicly shared that he is gay.
He shared the news in a social media post and a video where he said: "I'm a footballer, and I'm proud to be gay".
"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."
"All I want to do is play football and be treated equally." he said.
Who is Josh Cavallo?
Josh (in yellow) has played for his current team Adelaide United since February this year.
Josh Cavallo is a 21-year-old Australian professional footballer.
He plays as a left back and central midfielder for Adelaide United.
Josh was awarded the A-League Rising Star award, after his successful 2020-21 campaign.
"I hope that in sharing who I am, I can show others who identify as LGBTQ+ that they are welcome in the football community. As the game of football keeps expanding, I want to help evolve the game even further, and let other players in my situation feel that they're not alone." he said in his post.
LGBT+ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender. The + is an inclusive symbol to mean 'and others' to include people of all identities.
Why are there so few male openly gay football players?
Very few elite male football players have come out as gay during their careers.
Robbie De Santos, the director of sport for the LGBT charity Stonewall says: "A lot of people find it hard to imagine that any top tier footballers - who are male - could potentially be gay or bi."
"Much of it comes down to stereotypes in society. Stereotypes about what gay and bi men are like and what they could be good at."
Newsround speaks to a young gay footballer about his experiences coming out, along with pro footballer Anton Hysén, one of the few openly gay players in the game.
Only four male professional football players who have played in the UK have shared that they were gay. They are: Thomas Beattie, Justin Fashanu, Thomas Hitzlsperger and Robbie Rogers.
Of those, only Justin Fashanu revealed he was gay whilst still playing football in 1990. The other three shared that they were gay after retiring from football.
Sadly, Justin didn't receive much support after coming out, and suffered from homophobic bullying and harassment before he died in 1998.
Thomas Beattie, who was a former youth player for English club Hull City, said that he felt that he couldn't announce that he was gay while still playing: "I literally felt like I had to sacrifice one of the two: who I am, or the sport I loved," he said.
What is homophobia?
By comparison, in the Women's 2019 World Cup, there were at least 41 female players or coaches who are openly gay or bisexual, including USA Captain Megan Rapinoe who led her team to victory in the tournament.
Currently, there are several male players at the non-league level of English football who have shared that they are gay, as well as referees like Ryan Atkin and James Adcock.
Speaking about the lack of openly gay male professional footballers Josh Cavallo said: "I want to help change this, to show that everyone is welcome in the game of football, and deserves the right to be their authentic self,"
"It is astonishing to know that there are currently no gay professional footballers who are out and actively playing, not only in Australia, but around the world. Hopefully this will change in the near future." He wrote.
Messages of support
Josh said that the support he has received since coming out to his loved ones, his teammates and coaches has been "immense".
The Premier League commented on Josh's post to say: "The footballing world is behind you and we wish you all the very best. "
Thomas Beattie, said he was proud of Josh, adding that: "visibility and representation matters".
Arsenal replied to Josh's post saying: "Thank you Joshua Cavallo for your strength and bravery. You are an inspiration to millions. Everyone deserves the right to be themselves. The world of football is a better place today, because of you."
The Australian FA wrote: "Football Australia wishes to commend Josh's bravery to come out as the only openly gay player in the A-League Men competition.
"His courage to be open with himself and share that part with others is inspiring and will hopefully inspire more footballers to do the same in the future"