Jakub Jankto
James Williamson – AMA / Getty Images
In February, the Czech soccer player Jakub Jankto became the first active international men’s player to announce he was gay.
Jankto came out through a video shared on Twitter.
“Like everybody else, I have my strengths, I have my weaknesses; I have a family, I have my friends,” he said. “I have a job, which I have been doing it as best as I can, for years, with seriousness, professionalism, and passion. Like everybody else, I also want to live my life in freedom without fears, without prejudice, without violence, but with love. I am homosexual, and I no longer want to hide myself.”
The 27-year-old sports star is a player for the Spanish La Liga team Getafe CF, but he is currently on loan to the Czech First League club Sparta Prague. Both clubs released statements in support of Jankto after he came out.
In recent years, more and more soccer stars have felt comfortable revealing their sexuality.
“Football is a little bit homophobic, but I trust that with my example it’s going to get better,” Jankto told the Financial Times in March, adding that he felt coming out in the sport was “always a tough decision.”
Jankto said that FIFA, the international governing body of association football, could “help more” in tackling prejudices within the game but felt that the problem was universal.
Jankto also said he told his close friends and family last year, including his former partner Markéta Ottomanská, with whom he has a 3-year-old son. Ottomanská and Jankto broke up in 2021.
