The World Cup winner blamed his ‘hacked account’ for the social media controversy.
Iker Casillas and Carles Puyol have come under fire for their deleted coming-out tweets on Sunday.
In recent days, rumours of Casillas dating Spanish actress Alejandra Onieva surfaced Spanish media. The former Real Madrid goalkeeper stunned his social media followers by stating that he was gay on Sunday.
“I hope you respect me, I’m gay,” Casillas wrote.
Minutes later, Carles Puyol joined the practical joke, tweeting back: “It’s time to tell our story, Iker.”
The tweets riled up a shocking amount of homophobic tweets, forcing Casillas to come up with an explanation.
The World Cup winner claimed his account was hacked after deleting the initial tweet. However, his unsatisfying explanation only triggered more backlash.
“Hacked account. Luckily everything in order. Apologies to all my followers. And of course, more apologies to the LGBT community,” Casillas wrote.
Gay rights activists have criticized Casillas for undermining the bravery of footballers who’ve decided to come out in recent years.
Adelaide United defender Josh Cavallo, who came out as gay in October 2021, reacted to the controversial tweets.
“Iker Casillas and Carles Puyol joking and making fun out of coming out in football is disappointing,” he tweeted.
“It’s a difficult journey that any LGBTQ+ people have to go through. To see my role models and legends of the game make fun out of coming out and my community is beyond disrespectful.”
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