Soccer club Adelaide United have asked South Australian police to investigate death threats footballer Josh Cavallo has received online since he made his groundbreaking announcement that he is gay.
The call comes after Cavallo called out spectators who directed homophobic abuse towards him at a match played in Melbourne on the weekend.
Following that incident the Australian Professional Leagues have vowed to ban any person identified as taking part in the abuse from attending any future matches.
A spokesperson fore the club confirmed to NINE newspapers that they had reached out to the police over their concerns about messages Cavallo had received online. Adelaide’s Chief Executive Nathan Kosmina has praised Cavallo for his resilience.
“He’s a real resilient young man. We’ve spoken often about the courage he displayed in terms of coming out and everything that went along with that, the pressure that was on him as a global voice of the LGBTI+ community was significant,” Kosmina said.
“He’s arguably the highest profile men’s player in the league now, in terms of the global reach of his name and brand. With that, and our sport being global, means that he gets comments from all over the world – majority positive, but there’s an element that is negative. And that is ongoing.”
OIP Staff
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