Australian professional footballer Josh Cavallo announces he’s gay

(CNN) – Australian professional footballer Josh Cavallo announced on Wednesday that he is gay in a video message broadcast by his A-League club Adelaide United.

“I’m a footballer and I’m gay,” Cavallo said in the emotional video titled ‘Josh’s Truth.’ “All I want to do is play soccer and be treated the same.

“I know there are other players who live in silence,” added the 21-year-old. “I want to help change this, to show that everyone is welcome in the game of soccer and deserves the right to be authentic.

The video was accompanied by a statement posted on the account of Cavallo’s Twitter.

His ad makes Cavallo the only openly gay senior male footballer today.

“Being a hidden gay footballer, I had to learn to mask my feelings to fit the mold of a professional footballer,” wrote Cavallo. “As a gay footballer, I know there are other players who live in silence.

“I want to help change this, to show that everyone is welcome in football and deserves the right to be authentic.”

Cavallo follows in the footsteps of former A-League player Andy Brennan, who in 2019 became the first Australian male professional footballer to publicly make it known that he was gay while playing.

In 2014, former German international Thomas Hitzlsperger announced that he was gay a year after announcing his retirement from soccer.

American international Robbie Rogers announced that he was gay when he retired from professional soccer in February 2013, but returned to the sport with MLS club LA Galaxy three months later and won the MLS Cup.

Matias Grez contributed to this report.