Iker Casillas has deleted a tweet in which he seemingly announced he was coming out as gay.
The former Real Madrid and Spain goalkeeper made the announcement on Twitter to his 10m followers on Sunday afternoon.
Translated, the tweet reads: ‘I hope you respect me, I’m gay’.
Shortly after his announcement, the 41-year-old received a wave of support online, including from Barcelona icon and his former Spain teammate Carles Puyol, who responded by saying, “The time has come to tell our story, Iker”.
Subsequently, the Real Madrid legend apologised for deleting the tweet in which he said “I’m gay” while confirming that his account was hacked.
In an explanation messaged, Casillas wrote: “Hacked account. Luckily everything in order. Apologies to all my followers. And of course, more apologies to the LGBT community.”
Casillas is considered a legend of Spanish football after being capped 167 for his country and making over 700 appearances for Real Madrid.