'I have made a mistake.'
Carles Puyol has issued an apology for the reply he sent to Iker Casillas, after the former Real Madrid goalkeeper appeared to announce he was gay on Twitter over the weekend.
"I hope you respect me: I'm gay," read the short tweet which appeared on Casillas' official account on Sunday afternoon.
Checkboxes 'was hacked'
With the tweet quickly receiving thousands of retweets, Puyol, who played alongside Casillas for Spain as they won the 2010 World Cup, replied: "The time has come to tell our story, Iker."
Reports in Spain later claimed that Casillas' tweet had been an ironic response to rumors about his private life , having been romantically linked with a number of women in the press since the breakdown of his marriage last year.
The 41-year-old later deleted the tweet, claiming his account had been hacked.
"Hacked account," I explained in another tweet. "Luckily everything in order. Apologies to all my followers. And of course, more apologies to the LGBT community."
Puyol made a 'clumsy joke'
Several hours later, Puyol sent a tweet of his own, admitting he had made a 'clumsy joke'.
"I have made a mistake," the former Barcelona captain said. "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 LGTBIQA+ community."
https://twitter.com/Carles5puyol/status/1579161062666293249
The pair were strongly criticized on social media when reports first claimed it may have been a joke. Josh Cavallo , the Australian player who came out as gay a year ago, was amongst those to condemn them.
"@IkerCasillas and @Carles5puyol joking and making fun out of coming out in football is disappointing. It's a difficult journey that any LGBTQ+ ppl 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," he tweeted, prior to Casillas' claiming he had been hacked.
https://twitter.com/JoshuaCavallo/status/1579111094106218498
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