Australian footballer Josh Cavallo
recently revealed he worried coming out gay would negatively affect
his soccer career.
Cavallo, who plays midfield for
Adelaide United, became the world's only openly gay active
professional soccer player when he came out last month.
During a recent appearance on The
Guardian's Today in Focus podcast, Cavallo said that he
was confused about his sexuality at 16.
“At the age of 16, I was very scared
to talk about that sort of stuff,” he said. “I was feeling those
emotions, but I didn't know if that was something that would come and
pass by and I'd be straight. I was very confused with my sexuality.”
Cavallo said that he worried about how
his sexuality would affect his soccer career.
“Not having anyone to look up to and
to see, 'Okay, they're playing football and they're gay and having a
successful career,' that is something that scared me and something I
worried [would] potentially come out one day. Would it affect my
career in a bad way.”
Cavallo added that he hid his sexuality
from everyone in his life.
“It was only when I was by myself
that I could generally relax and not worry and not stress,” he
said.
The 21-year-old added that he decided
to come out because he wanted to be himself.
“It was my personal life. So, at the
end the of the day, you want to go to bed and you want to be happy,”
he said.