Cavallo abuse too loud to ignore say Reds
He has been receiving abuse online and in matches since coming out to his extreme public in October, but the level of abuse directed by Josh Cavallo from the stands at Saturday's A-League Mains fixture at AAMI Park was largely ignored by the openly gay footballer. cannot be done.
Cavallo called out homophobic abuse from the crowd late in Adelaide's 1-1 draw with Melbourne Victory, saying he had "no words" to describe his disappointment in an Instagram post on Sunday.
In response, league officials, Victory and AAMI Parks are investigating and promising sanctions for any identified individuals.
Reds chief executive Nathan Kosmina said Cavallo had been dealing with persistent abuse since making international headlines in October, when he surfaced via social media and the club's online channels.
Kosmina said the "resilient" 22-year-old was handling the situation well and was in a good headspace, but the scale of Saturday's abuse meant that both the player and the club had to call it out.
"We discussed its imperative before October 27," Kosmina said.
"He is now arguably the highest profile male player in the A-League in terms of the global reach of his name and brand.
"Our sport being global (that) means it gets comments from all over the world. Most are positive but there is an element that is negative.
"He knows the good and the bad that comes with it, it was a far bridge in terms of the amount of comments.
"Just went beyond what was acceptable.
"It's never acceptable but it was a collective voice coming out of the stand that Josh and we can't stand."
Cosmina said the abuse occurred when Cavallo was moving from the stadium's north stand, which had been kicked out of the game.
Authorities are using Cavallo's account to scour both broadcast and CCTV footage in an attempt to identify the individuals.
"Where it went a little too far was its volume," Kosmina said.
"It wasn't one person, it was more of a collective voice coming out of that North stand and they said basically 'Enough is enough, I'm calling it' and we're right behind Josh.
"She's in a good headspace, but as anyone would have, being abused online or in person is clearly not a pleasant experience."
Kosmina, who said Adelaide was looking to arrange a Pride game in February to promote inclusion in the professional sport, had a direct message to anyone involved in the abuse.
"We don't want you in our game. It's as simple as that," he said.
"It's an element that needs to be done away with. It's the kind of language that was probably more common 20-30 years ago, it's not acceptable now.
"I don't want my young boys in a game where there is abuse from the stands. I don't think any family does that."
