Iker Casillas claimed that a tweet proclaiming his homosexuality made from his personal Twitter account resulted from a hack.
On Sunday afternoon, the former Real Madrid and Spain goalkeeper updated his 10 million followers.
Casillas posted, ‘Hacked account.’ ‘Luckily everything in order. Apologies to all my followers. And of course, more apologies to the LGBT community.’
Around 30 minutes earlier, the original post – which read ‘I hope you respect me, I’m gay’ – had been deleted from the account.
Carles Puyol, a former Barcelona captain, was the first to reply to Casillas’ post.
It was translated as “It’s time to teach them about ourselves.”
However, following Casillas’ deletion, Puyol likewise withdrew his post.
Puyol later apologized on Twitter, writing:”I was mistaken. Sorry for a clumsy joke without any bad intentions but absolutely out of place. I understand that it could have hurt feelings. All my respect and support for the LGBTQ+ community.”
According to a Stonewall spokesperson: “It’s disheartening to see homophobic ‘jokes’ made at the expense of LGBTQ+ athletes and supporters. Whatever their intentions, our words are important. Stonewall will continue to work for a better society in which LGBTQ+ individuals may participate in the sports they like.”
Casillas is regarded as a Spanish football hero, having been capped 167 times for his nation and appearing in over 700 games for Real Madrid.
Casillas is one of football’s most accomplished goalkeepers, having resigned in 2020 after suffering a cardiac arrest while practicing with his last club Porto.
During his 22-year career, he won the World Cup, two European Championships, five La Liga titles, and three Champions Leagues.
Puyol spent his whole career at Barcelona, facing Casillas in some high-profile games between the country’s two most powerful clubs.
Jake Daniels of Blackpool became the UK’s first male professional footballer to come out publicly as homosexual since Justin Fashanu in 1990 in May.