Adelaide United midfielder Josh Cavallo, who opened up as gay in 2021, says he still receives “multiple” death threats every day.
The 25-year-old says football remains a “very toxic place” for openly gay players and coming out “comes with a mountain of downsides”.
When Australian Cavallo came out, he was the only top-flight openly gay male professional footballer.
“There’s multiple, multiple, multiple death threats that come my way daily still. And it’s quite sad to see,” he told journalists.
“In the world of football, being an openly gay player is a very toxic place. It’s something that not everyone would be able to handle and go through.
“I still think we’re a very, very long way of being accepted in this space.
“So, these are factors that people will consider in their coming out and they might not be out now, but coming out brings all this attention, it brings all this pressure, brings all this negativity that will affect their game in the long run.
“It’s difficult to say to people, ‘Absolutely, come out, be yourself’.
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“But it also comes with a mountain of downsides as well that I don’t think people realise.”
Despite the threats Cavallo, who was 21 when he came out, wished he had done so earlier.
“I was tired of being hidden and tired of having to go around and hide from people and not live my authentic self,” said the midfielder, who got engaged to his partner Leighton Morrell in 2024.
“And then I would be like why hasn’t this happened in football? Why hasn’t no one ever come out to be themselves and be successful and play?
“And I understand that now looking back, all the negativity, all the things that come your way.”
Cavallo posted a video on social media in October 2021 in which he said he was gay, saying he was “ready to speak about something personal that I’m finally comfortable to talk about in my life”.
