“Account hacked. Fortunately, everything is back to normal. Sorry to all my followers. And, of course, my apologies to the LGBT community”, reacted Casillas (41), former Real Madrid goalkeeper, after deleted the previous message.
During the day, the following message had been published on his Twitter account: “I hope you will respect me: I am gay”.
Cuenta hacked. Por suerte todo en orden. Disculpas a todos put followers. Y por supuesto, más disculpas a la comunidad LGTB.
—Iker Casillas (@IkerCasillas) October 9, 2022
A joke in bad taste
In the aftermath, his former teammate in the Spanish selection Carles Puyol replied with an ironic message, suggesting that it was not a real announcement: “It’s time to tell our relationship, Iker”, had written Puyol, accompanying his message with emoticons.
“I was wrong. Sorry for this joke without any bad intention and absolutely out of place. I understand that I may have hurt some sensitivities. All my respect and support to the LGBTIQA + community”, apologized in turn Puyol on Twitter.
Me he equivocado. Perdón por una broma torpe sin ninguna mala intención y absolutamente fuera de lugar. Entiendo que puede haber herido sensibilidades. Todo mi respect y apoyo a la comunidad LGTBIQA+
—Carles Puyol (@Carles5puyol) October 9, 2022
Iker Casillas, former star goalkeeper of Real Madrid and the Spanish selection, has been a key figure in Spanish sport since the historic Euro-World-Euro treble achieved by “Roja” between 2008 and 2012.
His highly publicized relationship with journalist Sara Carbonero, whom he had kissed live just after the planetary coronation in South Africa, had delighted the gazettes, before their resounding separation in 2021. The couple had two sons.
The outrage aroused
The messages published on the accounts of Casillas and Puyol reacted to Joshua Cavallo, the only openly homosexual footballer playing in a first division championship, in Australia (A-League).
“Iker Casillas and Carles Puyol joking and having fun on the subject of coming out in football, it’s sad. It’s a difficult passage that anyone in the LGBTQ+ community has to go through. See my role models and legends of the sport having fun coming out and my community is beyond disrespectful,” Cavallo wrote.
A year ago, in October 2021, the then 21-year-old midfielder posted a video on social media in which he said: “I’m a footballer and I’m gay.” It had been viewed seven million times in 24 hours.
In Spain, the third country in the world to have authorized same-sex marriage, in 2005, openness to LGBT+ (lesbians, gays, bi and trans) remains a taboo in men’s professional football. No active player in La Liga has taken the plunge to date.