Sparta Prague

Czech Republic and Sparta Prague midfielder Jakub Jankto publicly came out as gay Monday in a post on social media in which he said he wants to live "in freedom" and "without fears"

Jankto, 27, now becomes one of the few active men's soccer players to publicly come out in recent years joining Josh Cavallo of Adelaide United in 2021 and Jake Daniels of Blackpool in May of last year. Cavallo became the first active men's player to come out as gay since Justin Fashanu did so in 1990.

"Like everybody else, I also want to live my life in freedom," Jankto said in the post. "Without fears. Without prejudice. Without violence. But with love. I am homosexual and I no longer want to hide myself."

While Jankto decided to come out publicly about his sexual orientation now, he had already told people within Sparta Prague a while ago, according to the club.

Sparta Prague followed Jankto's post with a statement of support.

"Jakub spoke openly about his sexual orientation with the club some time ago," the club said in a statement. "Everything else concerns his personal life. No further comments. No more questions. You have our support. Live your life, Jacob. Nothing else matters."

Jankto, who is on loan from La Liga's Getafe, is best known for his time spent in Serie A where he made 155 appearances for Sampdoria and Udinese. The 27-year-old also has 45 caps for his country, playing in all of the Czech Republic's games during the 2021 Euros.

Two Sparta Prague players have been sent to train with the club's women's team after they made sexist comments about a female match official, with one telling her to get "to the cooker."  

Per the Guardian's Michal Petrak and Marcus Christenson, midfielder Lukas Vacha and goalkeeper Tomas Koubek have been appointed ambassadors of Sparta's women's side after their criticism of assistant referee Lucie Ratajova following a 3-3 draw with Zbrojovka Brno on Sunday.

Ratajova missed an offside against hosts Brno during the Czech top-flight clash in the build-up to Alois Hycka's equaliser in the second minute of stoppage time.

Per Petrak and Christenson, reacting to Sparta's loss of two points, 27-year-old Vacha—sidelined through injury—tweeted a picture of Ratajova captioned: "To the cooker."

Meanwhile, Koubek, 24, said "women should stay at the stove and not officiate men’s football."

The club have since issued a statement in which Sparta general director Adam Kotalik condemned the players' reaction and outlined the action taken, via the Guardian's report:

As much as I understand that the boys were full of emotions after the finish of yesterday’s game, there are some boundaries that they can not cross in their statements.

As well as serving as ambassadors of the team at the UEFA Women’s Champions League games they will both report to the boss of Sparta women's teams Dusan Zovinec and will take part at some of the training sessions with one of our women’s team to see with their own eyes that the women can be skilful somewhere else than at the stove, too.

Czech FA Chairman, Miroslav Pelta, also denounced Vacha and Koubek's comments as "totally unacceptable."

On Tuesday, Ratajova was given a four-game suspension as the late missed offside was not the only error she made in Sunday's match, she also missed one in the lead-up to Sparta's second goal, per Petrak and Christenson. 

Both Sparta players issued apologies via Facebook on Monday. 

Vacha insisted he had not meant his comments in "a chauvinistic way" and that they were "aimed at the specific error."

Similarly, Koubek denied his comments were meant to be sexist and added: "I love my girls and want them to achieve something in their lives that we can be proud of."

As a result of the draw against Brno, Sparta sit fourth in the Czech league after nine games of the new season having taken 16 points.