Former Real Madrid and Spain legend, Iker Casillas made a huge revelation yesterday on Twitter. The 41-year-old footballer wrote a not-so-cryptic tweet. However, Casillas soon retracted the tweet claiming that he was “hacked.” But not before Barcelona legend, Carles Puyol replied to the tweet saying “It’s time to tell our story”
This led to an immense backlash against Puyol, who has two children with his girlfriend Vanesa Lorenzo. The 44-year-old did apologize for making a “bad joke” in response to Iker Casillas’ now-deleted tweet.
In a tweet, Puyol wrote, “’I messed up. I’m sorry for a bad joke which had no bad intention, which was totally out of place,” adding “I understand that I may have hurt someone’s feelings. All my respect and support towards the LGBTQ+ community”
Coming back to Casillas, there have been many speculations regarding the Spaniard’s sexuality after his split from his wife in March 2021. It is believed that Puyol’s now-deleted tweet was a joke in response to that.
Casillas also apologized for the hacked tweet, saying “Hacked account. Luckily everything was in order. Apologies to all my followers. And of course, more apologies to the LGBT community.”
The incident hasn’t bode well with the footballing world, where LGBTQIA+ players are often subjected to mockery by the fans. Openly gay Australian footballer, Josh Cavallo, criticized the Spanish duo, saying “@IkerCasillas and @Carles5Puyol joking and making fun out of coming out in football is disappointing. It’s a difficult journey that any LGBTQ+ ppl has to go through. To see my role models and legends of the game make fun of coming out and my community is beyond disrespectful.”