Iker Casillas, the Spanish goalkeeping great, has been accused of stoking homophobia after a prank message appeared on his Twitter account stating that he is gay. The 41-year-old World Cup winner, who retired in 2020 after a distinguished career with Real Madrid and then Porto, has since apologised and claimed his account was hacked. No context had been provided in a seven-word social media post which remained on Casillas’s social media account for more than an hour. “Espero que me respeten: soy gay. #felizdomingo,” the message published at 1.10pm said. The direct translation of the tweet is: “I hope you respect me: I’m gay. #happySunday.” Some immediately questioned whether the statement was genuine. But former team-mate, Carles Puyol, appeared to be in on the joke, posting a message translated as: “It’s time to tell our story, Iker”. The messages were then deleted amid reports in Spain that the claims were a prank. Gay rights groups have expressed dismay. Josh Cavallo, who last year became the first footballer to come out while still playing, in Australia’s A-League, tweeted his disapproval. Immediately after Casillas had tweeted, a slew of homophobic and disparaging responses began appearing in his replies. Peter Tatchell, the prominent…
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Outrage at Iker Casillas's 'I'm gay' tweet – The Telegraph
