Iker Casillas in goal for FC Porto during a UEFA Champions League group G match against AS Monaco in 2017. Photo / Getty
Iker Casillas in goal for FC Porto during a UEFA Champions League group G match against AS Monaco in 2017. Photo / Getty
Football legend Iker Casillas, one of the greatest goalkeepers in the history of the sport, says his Twitter account had been hacked when it published a post announcing he was gay.
"Cuenta hackeada. Por suerte todo en orden. Disculpas a todos mis followers. Y por supuesto, mas disculpas a la comunidad LGTB," the retired Spaniard wrote on Twitter early on Monday morning, Australian time.
Translation: "Hacked account. Luckily everything in order. Apologies to all my followers. And of course, more apologies to the LGBT community."
A few hours earlier, in a post that was later deleted, Casillas' account tweeted: "Espero que me respeten: soy gay." In English: "I hope you respect me: I am gay."
Iker Casillas split from his wife, sports journalist Sara Carbonero, last year. Photo / Instagram
The post swiftly racked up hundreds of thousands of likes and retweets before it disappeared more than an hour later.
Carles Puyol, another legendary Spanish footballer who was a teammate of Casillas at the national level (and rival at domestic level) for many years, was among those reacting.
"Es el momento de contar lo nuestro, Iker," Puyol wrote, including a love heart emoji. "It's the moment to tell our story."
The deletions left fans unsure whether to take Casillas' apparent announcement seriously. Spanish media reported he may have been jesting, having grown frustrated with speculation about his love life in the press.
The retired star was most recently linked to actress Alejandra Onieva, and before that, the Colombian singer Shakira.
Before Casillas claimed he'd been hacked, a number of voices in the sporting world criticised him for apparently making a joke out of coming out.
"Iker Casillas and Carles Puyol joking and making fun out of coming out in football is disappointing," Australian player Josh Cavallo, who came out as gay a year ago, wrote on Twitter.
Iker Casillas. Photo / Instagram
"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."
Former Manchester United player Jonny Sharples labelled Casillas and Puyol's tweets "pathetic".
"All they've achieved is to embolden the homophobic attitudes that are already rife within football and within football fandom," said Sharples.
"Slow progress is being made. Things like this make it even slower."
Iker Casillas managed to alienate millions of homophobes, millions of LGBT people, millions of people who think that coming out shouldn’t be “banter,” and probably discouraged a lot of pro footballers from coming out as well.
"Iker Casillas and Carles Puyol should be ashamed," said CBS football reporter Ben Jacobs.
"Making a joke about coming out is not only pathetic and sickening, but it fuels homophobia. It achieves exactly the opposite of what we want football to be: a safe, inclusive and respectful space. Lost all respect for both players.
"It normalises joking about being gay. And the horrible homophobic replies to the 'announcement' could easily put off those who are considering coming out in the game. Just a terrible and needless joke, thankfully now deleted."
And later, responding to Casillas' claim that he was hacked, former Valencia, Villareal and Liverpool player Jose Enrique accused him of "lying to everyone" instead of "apologising and recognising the mistake".
Constant spotlight
Casillas split from his wife, sports journalist Sara Carbonero, last year, having been married to her for half a decade. They have two children together.
"Today our love as a couple takes different but not distant paths, since we'll continue together in the marvellous task of continuing to be devoted parents, as we have been up until now," he said in a statement at the time.
"This is a well considered decision which we have taken through mutual agreement."
He said both he and Carbonero felt "enormously proud" of their family and had "shared a love that has filled us with happiness during all our years together".
"The respect, affection and friendship will remain forever," Casillas said.
"Our priority is, through affection and compromise, to share the wellbeing and education of our children and protect them so they grow in a stable and healthy environment.
"With these words we ask you to respect our privacy in this moment of change."
Carbonero posted the same statement on her own social media channels.
Late last month, Casillas was forced to deny speculation that he was dating Shakira, who had recently split from another Spanish footballer, Gerard Pique.
"Touch your nose. OMG," he wrote on Instagram, having shared screenshots of articles spreading the rumour.
Shakira and Pique broke up in June, ending a 12-year relationship. Like Casillas and Carbonero, they have two children together.
Casillas' long and decorated career included one World Cup, two Euro championships, five La Liga titles and three Champions League titles.
He made more than 500 appearances with Real Madrid between 1999 and 2015 before moving to the Portuguese club Porto, playing a further 116 games there. He also played 167 times for the Spanish national team.
He announced his retirement from professional football in August of 2020.
