'Hate will never win' - Australian footballer Josh Cavallo calls out homophobic abuse in A-League match

Published 09/01/2022 at 10:52 GMT

'Hate will never win'. That was Australian A-League footballer Josh Cavallo's strong message after he was targeted by homophobic abuse during a game against Melbourne Victory on Saturday. The Adelaide United player said the incident "shows the problems society still faces in 2022". Both Adelaide and Melbourne Victory have condemned the abuse.

Josh Cavallo

Image credit: Getty Images

Josh Cavallo - the only openly gay professional top-flight male footballer in the world - has said "hate will never win" after he was targeted by homophobic abuse during an A-League game on Saturday.

The 22-year-old was introduced as a second-half substitute during Adelaide United's draw with Melbourne Victory and said he received abuse from the crowd 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 wrote on Instagram.

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"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."

In a statement, his club Adelaide United said the homophobic abuse aimed at Cavallo is "disappointing and upsetting".

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

A Melbourne Victory statement said the club "strongly condemns this behaviour" and would "investigate the matter further" with Adelaide, the league and the stadium.

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