JANKTO SAYS COMING OUT AS GAY ‘DEFINITELY A RELIEF’

Jakub Jankto, a football player for the Czech Republic’s national team, said on Thursday that coming out as homosexual earlier this week was “certainly a relief.”

The 27-year-old Getafe winger who is now on loan at Sparta Prague of the Czech top division made his sexual orientation public for the first time on Monday.

Jankto told the public Czech Radio, “It was a difficult decision, but looking back I’m incredibly delighted I made it.

The most important thing is that I can finally live how I want to now. It was undoubtedly a relief, he continued in his first interview after coming out in a tearful social media video.

“I want to set an example for others and demonstrate that you can continue to do your work. And I believe I’ve set a really good example.

Jankto, who shares a three-year-old son with his ex-girlfriend, claimed that he came out to his best friend a year and a half ago after first telling his family.

Then, a few months ago, I shouted it in the locker room. The response from my teammates was outstanding; they handled it well, he continued.

A small number of elite athletes, notably Josh Cavallo from Adelaide United in October 2021 and Jake Daniels from English club Blackpool in May 2022, have openly come out as gay while still playing.

Following Jankto’s declaration, famous teams like FC Barcelona and Arsenal as well as FIFA and UEFA expressed their support on social media.

The response was enormous, extraordinary, and great, said Jankto.

“This greatly simplified everything for me.”

However, he said that he was prepared for bad feedback when he returned to the field on Sunday when Sparta played Jablonec in the Czech league.

“To assume I can avoid that would be foolish. I won’t react if someone feels the urge, but it’s okay if they do. There are a few hundred hooligans linked with each side who will have none of this, and the football climate is undoubtedly a little homophobic, according to Jankto.

But it’s partly because there aren’t many successful historical instances that demonstrate that one’s sexual orientation is irrelevant.

Jankto predicted that the negative responses would eventually fade and that players would no longer be required to make statements along these lines.

I’m hoping we’ll arrive there as soon as possible and that these people will find it much simpler than I did.