Jakub Jankto, a midfielder for the Czech Republic, has emerged as one of the most well-known male players to come out as gay.
“I no longer want to hide myself”, the 27-year-old player for renowned Czech team Sparta Prague declared in a video shared on Twitter.
Jankto, who has played 45 times for the Czech national team, is on loan from the Spanish club Getafe to Sparta Prague.
Sampdoria and Udinese are Italian teams for which he has previously played.
In his Twitter video, Jankto stated: “Like everybody else, I want to live my life with freedom, without fears, without prejudice, without violence, but with love.”
“I am homosexual and I no longer want to hide myself.”
“You have our support,” said Sparta Prague’s official Twitter account in response to the video.
“Jakub, live your life,” the club said.
We’re with you, Jakub, the Premier League said in a comment in response to the video. “Football is for everyone.”
It’s still uncommon for professional male football players to come out as gay, despite the fact that women’s football has a large number of notable LGBTQ+ players.
Josh Cavallo, an Australian player for Adelaide United, came out as gay in 2021, making him the only out gay player in a major men’s league.
Jake Daniels, an active male professional player for English Championship team Blackpool, came out as gay to the public for the first time last year.
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