Abstract: Iker Casillas had earlier tweeted that he is gay and hoped people respect him.
Real Madrid legend Iker Casillas has deleted a tweet where he declared that he is gay.
The announcement sparked mixed reactions fuelled by a response to Casillas’ tweet by former Spain teammate Carles Puyol.
“It is time to tell our story, Iker,” Puyol had responded to Casillas’ “I hope you respect me: I’m gay” tweet.
However, the World Cup-winning goalkeeper has subsequently deleted the tweet after it had gone viral, with some Spanish media outlets reporting that the tweet was an apparent joke response to allegations about a possible romance.
Spanish outlet Diario AS confirmed that Casillas’ tweet was a response to rumours of a possible romantic relationship with Spanish actress Alejandra Onieva.
“Casillas has reacted to the latest rumours about his possible romance with Alejandra Onieva through a striking message on Twitter,” Diario AS said in a Twitter post about the viral news.
The former Porto goalkeeper was once in a relationship with female Spanish-Portuguese sports journalist Sara Carbonero for more than a decade and the pair have two sons together before they divorced last year.
Casillas appeared more than 500 times for the Real Madrid senior team between 1999 and 2015, winning five La Liga titles, three UEFA Champions League titles among lots of other trophies.
