Iker Casillas and Carles Puyol face Twitter backlash for ‘I’m gay’ tweet

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Casillas and Puyol found themselves at the centre of widespread backlash on Twitter. 

Former Real Madrid goalkeeper, Iker Casillas, has issued an apology after a tweet from his official account reading “I hope I’ll be respected: I’m gay” was published and subsequently deleted on Sunday.

Casillas, 41, claimed his account was “hacked” and issued an apology to his 9.7 million Twitter followers.

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“Hacked account,” read the apology. “Luckily everything in order. Apologies to all my followers. And of course, more apologies to the LGBT community.”

However, before Casillas deleted the original Tweet, his former Spanish international teammate, Carlos Puyol, replied saying: “It’s time to tell our story, Iker”,

Puyol, however, did not claim his account was hacked, instead claiming that it was a misjudged joke. He did, however, offer an apology to those who were offended.

The pair faced widespread condemnation from football fans and members of the LGTBIQA+ community alike.

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Adelaide United midfielder Josh Cavallo, who came out as gay in 2021, said: “Casillas and Puyol joking and making fun out of coming out in football is disappointing.

“It’s a difficult journey that any LGBTQ+ ppl 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.”

His tweets were shared by Blackpool’s Jake Daniels, the only openly gay footballer who is currently active in England.

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