Football is known as 'the beautiful game' not only for the emotions it present on the pitch but also because of the diversity. People from every section of the society, caste, culture, race and gender are allowed to build a career out of the sport on the professional front or make it a part of life just being a regular gazer. After all, it is a community game.



Such was the case when Adelaide United's left-back Joshua Cavallo took to social media last year to say that he is a gay footballer. At the time there were no known openly gay male players in top-flight football around the globe. His statement on the LGBT community and openness received overwhelming support from everywhere including top stars like Pique, Rashford and Griezmann. As said, it is a community game after all. Or is it? The same player whose name circulated for all good reasons received the most blatant homophobic abuses during the fixture against Melbourne Victory on Saturday.



Josh, who thought the reveal of his gender identity will ease up his life, now finds posting a difficult message on socials expressing his pain and calling for stewed actions against the perpetrators. This is the very place where football fails. It is a fact that the game brings up players from every community in the consent of equality and diversity, however, there is no surety of the respect all should deserve. The section of the abusers is less compared to the educated lot but the abuses are frequent. There should be a movement in place within the game on a public scale to deliver a strong statement in the elimination of maltreating.



Like Taking the knee to stand against racism has turned out to be a prematch ritual, the LGBT community desperately needs a specific representation from the game to educate society. But again, it should be the agenda for the faces holding the top seats to not arrange a World Cup in a place of zero value of support or restrict a stadium to lit up the rainbow colors. Otherwise, this is not the 'beautiful game' the masses desire.