Real Madrid great Iker Casillas deletes tweet after coming out as gay

Former Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas on Sunday deleted a tweet in which he announced he was gay.

The Spaniard, earlier tweeted: 'I hope you respect me: I'm gay. #happysunday.” He deleted the post later on with media reports suggesting it may be a joke response to dating rumours.

The developments come after Casillas' split from ex-wife Sara Carbonero in 2021 ending a five-year marriage. The former couple have two children together.

Reports in Spain in recent weeks claim that the Real Madrid great has been in a relationship with the actress.

Murmurs of a possible relationship between the two have been ongoing for a couple of months, but Casillas seems to have shut that down with his recent tweet.

Other Spanish outlets, such as Marca, suggest that the ex-Madrid star tweeted this as he is tired of couples being attributed to him - which he has grown fairly accustomed to.

After Casillas' tweet, former Spanish teammate Carles Puyol replied in support of the goalkeeper.

“It's time to tell our story, Iker,” the former Barcelona captain replied. The Barcelona has two children with girlfriend Vanesa Lorenzo.

Spanish media suggest the tweet was in response to speculation that he's in a relationship with Alejandra Onieva—the ex-sister-in-law of Spanish TV host Tamara Falco.