Jakub Jankto happy 'without hiding or being scared' after coming out as gay

Czech Republic footballer Jakub Jankto has revealed he is 'really happy' that he can now play 'without hiding or being scared' after he became the first current international player to publicly come out as gay.

The 27-year-old, who joined Italian side Caligari on a two-year contract in July, revealed the news in a post on social media in February as he followed the likes of Australian Josh Cavallo and Blackpool's Jake Daniels in sharing their sexuality.

He wrote: 'Like everybody else, I also want to live my life in freedom without fear, without prejudice, without violence, but with love. I am homosexual, and I no longer want to hide myself.'

The Czech star - who separated from his former partner Marketa Ottomanska, with whom he has a son, in 2021 - opened up about what it is like to play football today.

'It was a huge moment for me - but after six, seven months, I can say it wasn't a mistake,' Jankto told the BBC.

'If I could do it again, I definitely would, because it helped myself and I think it helped many, many people. It was a huge moment for all footballers, and many professional footballers at many clubs wrote to me, thanking me for it.

'I think it set a good, positive example for everybody, and now I'm really happy that I can play without hiding or being scared. I just carry on like nothing has happened, and that's really, really good.'

He added: 'When I got into professional football teams, being gay was still seen as "not normal", and football is still a little bit homophobic, I think.

'So I was scared when I was 18 or 19 and next to other guys and couldn't open messages on WhatsApp, because I always had the fear that someone might see a message or a photo from a guy... [however] coming out is what I needed to do to get better.

'I also thought to myself: "Well look, Jakub, you are a professional footballer, but you have your life that you have to live like you want." And for me, that was fundamental.'

He also revealed that there are some added pressures to becoming the first current international player to publicly come out as gay, however.

He said: 'When you receive thousands, maybe millions, of messages from people saying they appreciate me and thank me, it makes me really happy, and the people were amazing.

'But it does put pressure on me. It's not easy to be the first guy at my level who says: "Yeah, I'm gay."'

He has scored four goals in 45 games for the Czech Republic.

In 2021, Adelaide United's Josh Cavallo became the first current top-flight male professional in the world to come out.

Just one year later, Blackpool's Jake Daniels came out as the UK's only openly gay active male professional footballer.