'No words': Openly gay footballer Joshua Cavallo calls out homophobic abuse

Joshua Cavallo of Adelaide United in action during the A-League match against Western United. Photo / Getty

Adelaide United footballer Joshua Cavallo has called out homophobic abuse he says was directed at him during Saturday night's A-League match against Melbourne Victory at AAMI Park.

The 22-year-old became the first active professional footballer playing in a top-tier league in the world to come out as gay in October.

Just over two months later, Cavallo is on the receiving end of homophobic abuse he said he suspected he would be targeted with after his landmark announcement, which sparked an outpouring of support from around the world.

The defender came on early in the second half of the 1-1 draw but was forced from the field in injury time afte copping a stray elbow from Victory's Lleyton Brooks.

"I'm not going to pretend that I didn't see or hear the homophobic abuse at the game last night," Cavallo wrote on Instagram on Sunday.

"There are no words to tell you how disappointed I was. As a society this shows we still face these problems in 2022.

"This shouldn't be acceptable and we need to do more to hold this (sic) people accountable. "Hate never will win. I will never apologise for living my truth and most recently who I am outside of football."

Cavallo also revealed he had been abused on Instagram and called on the social media platform to do more to crack down on hateful messages.

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

"I knew truly 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."

Both Adelaide United and Melbourne Victory have condemned the behaviour on Saturday night and committed to investigating the incident.

"The club is committed to celebrating diversity in football, and strongly condemns this behaviour which has no place in our club or in our game," Melbourne Victory said in a statement.

"Melbourne Victory sees football as a platform to unite fans no matter what background. Spectators found to have breached these standards will be banned from future matches.

"The club is working with the League, stadium, and Adelaide United to investigate the matter further".

Australian Professional Leagues CEO Danny Townsend said: "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."

Professional Footballers Australia co-chief executives Beau Busch and Kathryn Gill also condemned the "vile abuse".

"Josh has shown remarkable courage and those who sought to abuse him in the stadium online have illustrated their cowardice," they said.

"There is no place in our game, or society, for those who direct abhorrent abuse at others.

"Josh will continue to have the full sport of the PFA and his peers. We will work with the APL, and the authorities, to ensure that those who subjected Josh to vile abuse are dealt with and that as a game we live up to our zero tolerance commitment."