«26 years old with a barrier. The fans applauded me»- Corriere.it

“After 26 years with that barrier you can’t live as you want, now I feel truly free and it’s extraordinary”. These are the words of Jakub Jankto, who in Italy wore the shirts of Udinese (2016-2018) and Sampdoria (2018-2021) and who today plays at Sparta Prague, at the Iene, the broadcast of Italia Uno, after the coming out of he.

“If the world of football is homophobic? Definitely a little yes because if I’m the first footballer to come out it must be like this ». The envoy of the Hyenas reminds him of the old sentences of Maurizio Sarri, on football that has become a sport for f… i: Jankto does not make controversy: «These swear words seem a bit excessive to me, as Claudio Ranieri said, we are all a family ». And then he continues: «If my gesture is a revolution? For some it is a revolution, for me it is absolutely normal. The people applauded me, as we saw in the first game after coming out, so the sensations are top». Jankto refers to the match against Jablonec on Sunday 19 February, the first official match after last week’s coming out. Great emotions for the midfielder, who came on in the 70th minute in place of Kuchta and received a wonderful ovation from his fans.

There was also an embrace with all his teammates, which the midfielder wanted to share on Instagram with a photo and a message: «Do what you love, do it with all your heart. Thank you Spartans!” And to the envoy of hyenas he added: «Am I afraid that in the future there may be homophobic chanting? Especially when you play away from home it happens that they say certain bad words to you, the ultras are like that. Was it hard to find the courage to come out? Mamma mia, yes! After 26 years with that barrier you can’t live the way you want and after that coming out I feel really free and it’s amazing. A lot of people are afraid to come out, so I hope my gesture can help someone. My child? I try to protect him, as I do my ex-wife, but what other people do, if he’s being teased, I can’t do much. He is now 3 and a half years old and I hope that when he is 7-8 there will be more freedom ».