Carles Puyol has apologised to the LGBTQ+ community for a ‘clumsy joke’ after Iker Casillas appeared to come out as gay in a now deleted tweet.
‘I hope you respect me, I’m gay,’ former Real Madrid goalkeeper Casillas announced to his 10m followers, before claiming that his account was hacked.
Ex-Barcelona captain Puyol, Casillas’ former Spain international team-mate, responded to the coming out tweet almost immediately and implied they were in a secret relationship, saying: ‘It’s time to tell our story, Iker.’
The tweets inevitably caused a storm – both in terms of positive messages to the former goalkeeper and, unfortunately, a swell of homophobic responses – and Casillas would have been the most high-profile footballer to come out as gay.
World Cup winner Casillas, who also won three Champions League titles and two European Championships, has since said that it was not him who posted the message, posting on Twitter: ‘Hacked account. Luckily everything in order.
‘Apologies to all my followers. And of course, more apologies to the LGBT community.’
Puyol has now also apologised, posting: ‘I have made a mistake. Sorry for a clumsy joke with no bad intentions and totally out of place.
‘I understand that it may have hurt sensitivities. All my respect and support for the [LGBTQ+] community.’
Homophobia continues to be a massive problem in the men’s game around the world, and there have been a lack of openly gay footballers as a result.
There is currently just one openly gay male footballer across England’s top four divisions, with Blackpool’s 17-year-old striker Jake Daniels coming out in May, while Zander Murray became the first Scottish player to come out last month.
Daniels become England’s first openly gay male footballer since Justin Fashanu in 1990 and it is not just in the United Kingdom where there is a lack of LGBTQ+ representation, with the situation similar in a lot of countries around the world.
Open homosexuality is more common in the women’s game, but in the men’s game, there have been several incidents of homophobic abuse in recent years.
Former Chelsea midfielder Billy Gilmour was subjected to homophobic chants from a section of Liverpool fans while on loan at Norwich in August 2021, while Leeds fans chanted homophobic slurs at Conor Gallagher three months later.
It is not just a problem in the Premier League but in England’s lower leagues too, with Manny Monthe handed a seven-game ban in December for making a homophobic comment during a League Two game between Tranmere and Forest Green.
Former Premier League boss Ian Holloway said in January of this year: ‘Being brutally honest, I do believe football is homophobic.’
The Premier League and English Football League are still attempting to eradicate homophobia from English football, having teamed up with LBGTQ+ charity Stonewall and anti-discrimination organisation Kick It Out years ago.
MORE : ‘Beyond disrespectful’ – Openly gay footballer Josh Cavallo slams Iker Casillas and Carles Puyol
MORE : Arsenal star Beth Mead urges more gay male footballers to come out
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