October 10 – Former Spain and Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas has claimed that he was hacked hours after tweeting that he was gay.
On Sunday afternoon, Casillas tweeted in Spanish: “I hope you respect me: I’m gay,” before his former Spain team-mate Carles Puyol replied: “It’s time to tell our story.”
The tweet remained live for an hour before it was taken down.
Casillas later tweeted: “Hacked account. Luckily everything in order. Apologies to all my followers.”
He added: “Of course, more apologies to the LGBT community.”
Puyol also tweeted an apology, saying: “I have made a mistake. Sorry for a clumsy joke with no bad intentions and totally out of place. All my respect and support for the LGTBIQA+ community.”
Reports in Spain suggested it may have been posted in response to rife magazine rumours about his post-divorce dating life. It comes a little over a year after he split from his wife.
In football, high-profile players who come out or identify openly as gay remain rare. Earlier this year, teenager Jake Daniels became the first professional in the British men’s game for more than 30 years to come out while still playing.
Adelaide United left-back Josh Cavallo came out last October through a video on his club’s social media pages. He has branded Casillas and Puyol’s tweets as ‘beyond disrespectful’.
“It’s a difficult journey that any LGBTQ+ ppl have to go through,” wrote Cavallo. “To see my role models and legends of the game make fun out of coming out and my community is beyond disrespectful.”
A youth product of Real Madrid, Casillas spent 25 years with the club, making 725 first-team appearances, winning La Liga five times and the Champions League three times.
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