Josh Cavallo became the first active footballer to make his homosexuality public a few weeks ago. This brought with it a barrage of congratulations and messages of support, but also a fear. Speaking for the podcast Guardian’s Today in Focus, the Australian claims to have ended six years of anguish trying to hide his sexual identity from everyone he knew.
“Not only did I hide it from my colleagues, but also from my family“, he assures.” I hid it from my friends, all around me, so only when I have been able to be myself is when I have been able to be relaxed, without worry or stress“he continues.
Cavallo has had a great influence on many footballers: “There are people who have spoken to me confidentially to tell me that they were in the same situation, and they are also professional footballers. And look, it’s something you can’t rush to. You want to be yourself, in the end I wasn’t happy and now look at me, I’m the happiest in the world. “
“They like how this sounds and they say: ‘Josh, I haven’t felt that until now and I want to.‘and I say:’ It is in your hands, it is your journey and there is a light at the end of the tunnel. ‘ I didn’t think there was and there definitely is“He explains. His public statement has also opened a debate against FIFA regarding the granting of the organization of the World Cup.
Russia, a country where homophobia has been called a “state-sponsored project,” hosted the last World Cup, while the next will be in Qatar, where homosexual acts are illegal. Asked about this, Cavallo explains that he read “something about Qatar applying the death penalty to gay people, It is something that I am very afraid of and it makes me not want to go there“.
“This saddens me,” he continues, “in the end the World Cup is in Qatar and one of the greatest achievements of a professional footballer is playing for your country, and to know that it is in a country that does not support the gay community and that puts our own life at riskIt terrifies me and makes me wonder if my life is more important than doing something really good in my professional career. “
Homosexual acts are criminalized in Qatar by harsh laws, with sentences ranging from one year to a decade in prison. A “Danger Index” Released in 2019 to Guide LGBT Travelers ranked the Asian country as the second most dangerous in the world for the queer community.
Muslims in the country are subject to Islamic law, which punishes any sexual activity outside of marriage with convictions up to the death penalty, which means that any homosexual act can result in execution, although several human rights reports state that there is no evidence that a gay person was executed for it.
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