A-League and police react to homophobic abuse and death threats against Cavallo

Multiple A-League entities have called out the homophobic abuse directed at Adelaide United's Joshua Cavallo during this weekend's game against Melbourne Victory. Investigations by both clubs and the APL may lead to spectator bans, with the South Australia Police are now also involved after death threats were brought to light.

Joshua Cavallo became the first and only openly gay male professional top flight footballer in the world last year, when he publicly came out. The Adelaide United player was recently the target of homophobic abuse during an A-League Men's match. Death threats have now resulted in South Australia police intervention.

Joshua Cavallo Abuse Incidents

Adelaide United's Joshua Cavallo was the first male top flight football player to come out as gay, issuing his statement last October.
Cavallo has been the target of multiple homophobic incidents, most recently at AAMI Park when United face Melbourne Victory.
On top of an APL investigation, South Australia Police are reported to be opening an investigation into death threats targeting the footballer.

More A-League news can be found on FTBL.

The incidents of homophobic abuse occured during the second-half of last weekend's Round Eight match between Adelaide United and Melbourne Victory at AAMI Park. The abuse is reported to have come from the northern stands.

The specific time frame was during the game's stoppage time, according to Adelaide United chief executive Nathan Kosmina, when Cavallo was substituted off and walking around the field. Adelaide United and Melbourne Victory stated that the clubs will work with AAMI Park and the APL to further investigate the homophobic incidents.

According to Kosmina, the APL and the operators of AAMI Park will comb through CCTV footage to identify those responsible. Victory and the APL have also specified that spectators "found to have breached these standards will be banned from future matches."

The incidents were first reported by Cavallo himself. The United player took to social media, Twitter and Instagram, after the 1-1 draw calling out the abuse he had received.

"I’m not going to pretend that I didn’t see or hear the homophobic abuse at the game last night. There are no words to tell you how disappointed I was," the 22-year old wrote on Instagram this Sunday.

"As a society it 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.

"Football is a game for everyone no matter of who you are, what colour your skin is or where you come from.

"To @instagram I don’t want any child or adult to have to receive the hateful and hurtful messages that I’ve received.

"I knew truely being who I am that I was going to come across this. It’s a sad reality that your platforms are not doing enough to stop these messages.

"Thank you to all the positive messages, love and support, seeing that far outweighs the negativity. To the individuals that reached out after making a stand at the game. I commend you.

"Thank you to those fans, you had me emotional.

"Love will always win"

pic.twitter.com/wGi7Cu1ws5
— Josh Cavallo (@JoshuaCavallo) January 9, 2022

Kosmina further stated during a press conference on Monday evening that this was not the first time that Cavallo had been the target of homophobic abuse, having received what Kosmina stated as "one off comments" in previous matches.

This past weekend's incidents were much more disturbing according to the chief executive.

“I think where this [incident] went a little too far was the quantum of it. It wasn’t an individual," said Kosmina.

"It was more of a collective voice coming out of that northern stand and he said, basically, ‘Enough’s enough. I’m calling this out’. And we say, ‘We’re right behind you, Josh.’”

On top of specifying their intention to address the events, Adelaide United, Melbourne Victory and the Australian Professional Leagues likewise condemned the events and reiterated their commitment to diversity.

The APL for their part issued a statement about the incident:

“The APL was shocked and saddened to hear reports of homophobic bullying at last night’s Melbourne Victory vs Adelaide United A-Leagues match, directed towards Josh Cavallo.

“Our players, staff and fans have the right to feel safe on and off the pitch. There is no place for bullying, harassment or abuse in Australian football and we have zero tolerance for this harmful behaviour.

“We are working with both clubs to investigate the incident and will issue sanctions to any people found to be involved.

“We fully support Josh Cavallo and want to ensure he can focus on his football performance, rather than on vile abuse. We will continue to concentrate our efforts on creating safe and welcoming A-Leagues for all.”

South Australia Police Investigation

Reports have now come out that Cavallo has also been the target of specific death threads. Some came during the Melbourne match, with Victory fans singing "if you want to stay alive, go home gypsy" according to sources familiar with the incident, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

Kosmina further specified that, like the homophobic abuse, the social media threats also pre-date the AAMI Park incidents, starting after Cavallo came out as gay in October. The threats have come from within and outside Australia since the footballer's decision to come out.

The Herald have stated that Adelaide United have now engaged the South Australia Police to investigate the threats against Cavallo.