A-League star’s plea

JOSH Cavallo has condemned homophobic abuse he was subjected to while playing for Adelaide United against Melbourne Victory on Saturday night.

Cavallo is the first openly gay male athlete to play in the A-League.

The 22-year-old made the announcement last year.

“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,” he said at the time.

Adelaide United took on Victory at AAMI Park, and Cavallo played 36 minutes in the 1-1 draw. Cavallo said the abuse that was directed at him should not be acceptable and those responsible needed to be held accountable.

“I’m not going to pretend that I didn’t see or hear the homophobic abuse at the game last night,” he posted on Instagram.

“There are no words to tell you how disappointed I was. As a society, it 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 who you are, what colour your skin is or where you come from.”

Cavallo also called out Instagram for not doing enough to stop “hateful and hurtful messages” on the platform.

“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.

Cavallo thanked those who continued to support him, saying “love will always win”.

Adelaide United chief executive Nathan Kosmina said the club was appalled by the behaviour.

“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,” he said.

“Josh continues to show immense courage and we join him in calling out abuse, which has no place in society, and it will not be tolerated by our club.

“We will continue to work with the Australian Professional Leagues and Melbourne Victory to identify perpetrators and prosecute them accordingly.”

Melbourne Victory said the abuse had no place in the game.