Footballers facing backlash over "I'm gay" joke on Twitter
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Two footballers are facing criticism on social media over a joke in which they insinuated they were in a secret gay relationship.
On Sunday, Spain's Iker Casillas – who won the World Cup and three Champions League titles – announced to his 10 million followers on Twitter that he had come out as gay, writing: "I hope you respect me, I’m gay."
Almost immediately after the tweet, former Barcelona captain Carles Puyol responded with a post of his own, implying that the pair were in a secret relationship: "It’s time to tell our story, Iker."
Within an hour, both tweets were deleted, with Casillas going on to claim that his Twitter account had been hacked. "Hacked account. Luckily everything is in order. Apologies to all my followers and of course, more apologies to the LGBT community," he said in a follow-up post – although, not everyone was convinced.
"@IkerCasillas and @Carles5puyol joking and making fun out of coming out in football is disappointing," tweeted openly gay footballer Josh Cavallo, who came out last year. "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."
@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 pic.twitter.com/Yp88aQyyTV
— Josh Cavallo (@JoshuaCavallo) October 9, 2022
"We've all been there. You get hacked. Your account does literally nothing out of the ordinary apart from post a hugely tasteless tweet about coming out. You regain access from the hackers *remarkably* quickly, then post an 'apology'. Perfectly credible. Nothing to see here," said Jack Murley of the BBC's LGBT Sport Podcast.
"I remember when Josh Cavallo came out, many in the footballing world were rightfully excited that milestone would encourage more players to do so. I feel for Cavallo and other LGBTQ footballers watching two legends of the game so thoughtlessly make a mockery of their struggle," a football fan tweeted in response, with another person writing: "I don’t follow football but this was evidently a joke... When has this ever been acceptable behavior for an adult let alone two who have a ton of influence? I thought we were past using homophobia as a joke."
In response, Puyol – who did not claim his account was hacked – tweeted: "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 LGTBIQA+ community."
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