Iker Casillas deletes 'I am gay' tweet; says 'account hacked'

Spanish and Real Madrid football legend Iker Casillas on Sunday (October 9) came out as gay in a Twitter post but later deleted it amid a wave of support for the former goalkeeper.

On his Twitter account, Casillas posted in Spanish, “I hope you respect me: I’m gay.” To this, his former teammate Carles Puyol replied in Spanish, “It’s time to tell our stories, Iker.”

Later, he tweeted that his Twitter account was hacked. “Account hacked. Luckily everything in order. Apologies to all my followers. And of course, more apologies to the LGBT community,” he tweeted in Spanish.

According to Spanish media reports, Casillas could have posted the tweet in response to his dating rumours. He was linked with Spanish actress Alejandra Onieva.

In March 2021, Casillas separated from his sports journalist wife Sara Carbonero. They were married for five years and had two boys.

Also read: Lionel Messi confirms World Cup in Qatar will be his last

During his illustrious career, Casillas won one World Cup in 2010, three Champions Leagues, two European Championships and five La Liga titles. He spent 25 years with Real Madrid, playing 725 matches with the first team, and won 19 trophies with the Spanish club which he joined at the age of nine and also captained it. He played in four FIFA World Cups.

He moved to Portuguese club Porto FC in 2015 and retired in August 2020.

Also read: Max Verstappen claims second straight F1 title with Japanese GP win

Real Madrid called Casillas “one of the biggest legends of our club and of world football” and “the best goalkeeper in the history of Real Madrid and Spanish football.”