After recently coming out, footballer Josh Cavallo does not hide his terror of playing in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Despite his courage in coming out – the only openly gay footballer still working – he has admitted he fears for his safety during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar – as reported by Pink News. Qatar is an Arab nation where male homosexuality is illegal and punished with fines, prison sentences and even the death penalty under Sharia law.
On The Guardian’s ‘Today in Focus’ podcast, Josh Cavallo said: ” I read something along the lines that Qatar gives the death penalty for gays, so it’s something that scares me a lot and that’s why I really wouldn’t want to go to Qatar”.
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According to a report by Human Dignity Trust, several articles in the Arab state’s penal code punish same-sex relationships with up to seven years in prison, although Sharia courts could technically also decide on the death penalty, although there have been no cases of death sentences being applied so far.
Also on The Guardian podcast, Josh Cavallo revealed that he has been approached by other secretly gay footballers who would like to come out publicly, including professional footballers.
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”And look, it’s something you can’t rush. [I say] you want to be yourself, and at the end of the day I wasn’t happy and now look at me, I’m honestly on top of the world. They like the sound of that and they say, ‘Josh, I’ve never tried this before and I want to do it.’ And I say: ‘It’s in your hands, it’s your journey and there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. I didn’t think it was there, but it’s definitely there'”.