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Is Football Player Jakub Jankto Gay? We Tell You Everything about His Story

Being a high-profile person in society today makes one a target as people want to know about one鈥檚 personal life. Jakub Jankto became a victim when his fans wanted to know about his sexuality and gender identity. He is a professional football player who plays for La Liga club Getafe in Spain. He also represents the Czech Republic.

, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Jakub Jankto was the first high-profile and active football player in history to come out as gay, following in the footsteps of Jake Daniel of Blackpool. Jakub made his statement in an emotional social media video stating the decision to come out as gay after a long period of hiding.

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Currently at Sparta Prague on a year-long loan, the Czech international announced on Twitter his sexuality in February 2023. 鈥淚 have a job which I have been doing 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,鈥� he posted on Twitter in a long video.

, , via Wikimedia Commons

Jakub is a talented player who plays in the midfield position. He has played for five European clubs making him one of the most admired players in the sport. He rose from the ranks at a local club SK Slavia in Czech where he played in the youth鈥檚 team before flying abroad to play in Italy. While in Italy, Jakub played for the Udinese youth鈥檚 team before being loaned to Sampdoria. After his successful spell at Sampdoria, he signed for the club on a permanent deal in 2019 for over twelve million pounds. He signed for Getafe in Spain a year later before being sent on loan to Sparta Prague in 2022.

Coming out as gay makes Jakub Jankto the highest-profile male footballer to do so. Playing for some of the elite football clubs in Europe made him a famous figure in the sport.

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Jakub stayed in the closet for the longest time for personal and professional reasons before stating that he is gay. However, some close friends knew about his sexuality but he had chosen not to make it public.

Before coming out on Twitter video, Jakub had made it clear to his employer, Sparta Prague that he was gay. Therefore the club knew and they had full support for the talented midfielder. The club also added to his social media statement, urging that he had told them about his intention to come out.

The Czech international was initially married to Marketa Ottomanska with whom they have a son together. Marketa knew about her husband鈥檚 sexuality and she was afraid that the footballer would be rejected if he came out as gay.

She would have drawn her fear from the fact that there are not many professional footballers with high profiles who came out as gay. Therefore Jakub鈥檚 decision to come out was an act of courage that many people are afraid to attempt. He has received support from former footballers who came out as gay after retiring.