Former Real Madrid and Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas has been widely criticised for a “damaging and disappointing” tweet that said he was gay, which he deleted and then later claimed was the work of hackers.
Casillas tweeted in Spanish: “I hope you respect me: I’m gay.” Carles Puyol, the former Barcelona defender, then replied: “It’s time to tell our story, Iker.”
These two tweets attracted thousands of responses, many of which were homophobic.
Both men have been widely criticised for “joking” about homosexuality, with Pride in Football, a network of LGBT+ fan groups in the UK, condemning the exchange and the subsequent reaction to it as “misjudged, ill-timed and disappointing”.
Puyol apologised for a “clumsy joke” but Casillas instead claimed the tweet was the work of “hackers”. There was no obvious evidence that Casillas’ account had been hacked and no further tweets were posted in between the initial tweet and the former footballer’s apology.
Casillas’ tweet was live for more than an hour before it was deleted. The tweet read: “Hacked account. Everything was fine. All my followers, I apologise.
“Of course, more apologies to the LGBT community.”
Puyol, meanwhile, apologised for the tweet sent from his account, acknowledging that he had made a “clumsy joke”.
