AdelaideUnited

Josh Cavallo receives support from football world after coming out

27-Oct-2021 18:47:03 | The Guardian

• Adelaide full-back only openly gay man playing in any top flight
• Gary Lineker and Joey Barton among those to offer messages

The support for Josh Cavallo was unanimous and vocal. Players lined up to congratulate the Adelaide United player. Their clubs did the same. Everyone from Gerard Piqué and Raphaël Varane to Gary Lineker and Joey Barton. Every club from Sunderland to Athletic Bilbao to Liverpool and Juventus.

“I want to thank you for this step that you take,” Piqué wrote to Cavallo on Twitter. “The world of football is far behind and you are helping us move forward.” It felt like the sport of professional football, so long associated with homophobia and the repression of individual sexuality, was determined to make the young full-back’s decision to come out a moment.