Gay real madrid player

So why is this important? Iker Casillas clarifies ‘I am gay’ tweet as Real Madrid icon apologises to fans IKER CASILLAS won every major trophy during his glittering spell at Real Madrid. And, as it turned out, Casillas wasn't coming out at all. So next time Casillas or Puyol decide to tweet, perhaps it could be about that instead?

Casillas retired in following a career that saw him win three Champions Leagues and five La Liga titles at Real Madrid. Does it really matter? For a couple of hours on Sunday lunchtime, Iker Casillas was the most famous gay footballer in the world.

A new documentary has been released in Spain, discussing the timeline of the gay pride movement in the country. What do George Clooney and Julia Roberts think about rom-coms? Those words represented, at real at first glance, a watershed moment for football.

And Puyol? Put simply, neither man seemed to 'get' what it's like to be gay in the beautiful game. The significance. Sunday's social media exchange would suggest not - but change, however gradual, is clearly happening. But regardless of the intent of the World Cup and European Championship winners, the reaction online was strong and severe.

You'd have to be aware of Lloyd Wilson and Josh Cavalloand the bravery it took both men to open up about their authentic selves in a sport where gay and bisexual men have historically been marginalised. He's still playing professional soccer, making him one of the few out current players.

Until, of course, he wasn't. Had it madrid true, Casillas would have been the most significant male player to open up about their sexuality, in a sport where the number of out male role models can still be counted on the fingers of a pair of goalkeeping gloves.

"I hope you respect me: I'm gay," said a tweet from the account of the former Real Madrid and Spain goalkeeper. Two hours after the 'respect me: I'm gay' post went up, Casillas deleted it - and replaced it with a new tweet, claiming he'd been hacked but that everything was now "in order".

But to condemn an entire sport kirk talley gay the tin-eared and cack-handed Twitter exchanges of two men who ought to have known better wouldn't be fair. You'd have to have listened to the stories of Jake Daniels and Zander Murraytalking about the weight they felt as teenagers in the game when they believed they had to hide their sexuality to get on in the game.

Australian striker Andy Brennan came out as gay inbecoming the first out gay Australian male footballer. After all, a hacked account or a poorly-worded tweet doesn't have the power to change lives - and if it was just a bad joke between old team-mates, reportedly made in response to Spanish media speculation about Casillas' private life… well, so what?

One of the stories covered is that of the supposed coming out of a Real Madrid. LGBTQ+ sports fans have slammed Real Madrid footballer Iker Casillas for his gay coming-out announcement. And it stirred up the worst elements of social media, who have spent the past 24 hours hurling homophobic abuse at those - myself included - who point out that there are real-world players to the words of Casillas and Puyol.

He deleted his original post as well. More and more people within football are willing to share their authentic selves, and open up about their sexuality. Those words represented, at least at first glance, a watershed moment for football.

They reveal all to Ali Plumb Image source, Getty Images. But among all the supportive replies to Casillas' supposed coming out, there was a tell-tale sign that things weren't what they seemed. The worry for those who work to make football a more inclusive place will be that neither Casillas nor Puyol appeared to be thinking about those things when they posted on social media.