Spanish legends Iker Casillas and Carles Puyol found themselves in trouble after a strange social media interaction.
While Casillas and Puyol played on opposite sides of El Clasico for years as captains of Real Madrid and Barcelona, the two enjoyed a friendship as starters on the Spanish national team. Both are now retired, with Casillas hanging up his boots in 2020 while Puyol cancelled his career in 2014.
Casillas' personal life has been heavily covered in Spain since his retirement, much to his chagrin.
That came to light when Twitter was the scene of a few posts that confused and dismayed.
On Sunday, October 9, a tweet was posted on Iker Casillas' official Twitter account in Spanish that, translated into English, said:
However, the bizarre nature of the announcement and apparent lack of emotion led many to believe that something was amiss. It seemed like an unnatural way to present a seemingly significant moment.
Still, on the internet, the gay community initially seemed to celebrate having an ally with such a large and popular platform.
However, as speculation grew about the true nature of the tweets, they were eventually deleted a few hours later. Casillas then posted again, claiming his account was hacked.
"Account hacked," the tweet said in Spanish, translated into English. "Luckily, everything is in order. Apologies to all my followers.
Top 30 best Bewertungen von Samsung Gear S2 Armband Getestet und qualifiziert
Meanwhile, Puyol posted an apology for what he called an "awkward joke."
"I have made a mistake. Sorry for a clumsy joke that meant no harm but was totally out of line. I understand that it may have hurt the sensitive ones.
Eventually, reports began to surface in the Spanish media that Casillas' post was not genuine.
According to Spanish Publication AS, Casillas' post was intended as a sarcastic joke aimed directly at the Spanish media for their ongoing coverage of his personal life after his separation from his wife, Sara Carbonero, in 2021.
The former Real Madrid goalkeeper has sarcastically posted on Twitter with the aim that the media stop leaking false information about his courtships, which have grown since his breakup with Sara Carbonero.
Spanish publication El Mundo also wrote about this theory, although they passed on the speculation without reporting it as fact.
Casillas to the news published today by some media that links him to Alejandra Onieva, sister of Íñigo Onieva and ex-sister-in-law of Tamara Falco," wrote El Mundo.
El Mundo points out that this would not be the first time that Casillas has responded to coverage of his personal life. A month earlier, Casillas reacted angrily to Hello! the magazine's coverage of a boat trip where Casillas was seen with María José Camacho.
Puyol's response admitting that he made some off-colour jokes that excuse Casillas, and Spanish media reports seem to rule out that possibility.
In particular, UK fan group Pride in Football released a strong statement condemning the tweets. The statement supported the idea that Casillas' tweet was a joke, saying: "We should not see 'jokes' at the expense of others in 2022, or ever."
Meanwhile, many people echoed this sentiment. Some noted that joking about homosexuals being public about their sexuality downplays a serious challenge they face. In contrast, others expressed frustration at a public figure seemingly making fun of a real struggle for the gay community, which continues receiving appalling levels of discrimination.
Login To Leave a Comment