Gay real madrid player

But regardless of the intent of the World Cup and European Championship winners, the reaction online was strong and severe. He deleted his original post as well. More and more people within football are willing to share their authentic selves, and open up about their sexuality.

But to condemn an entire sport for the tin-eared and cack-handed Twitter exchanges of two men who ought to have known better wouldn't be fair. You'd have to be aware of Lloyd Wilson and Josh Cavalloand the bravery it took both men to open up about their authentic selves in a sport where gay and bisexual men have historically been marginalised.

So next time Casillas or Puyol decide to tweet, perhaps it could be about that instead? So why is this important? One of the stories covered is that of the supposed coming out of a Real Madrid. "I hope you respect me: I'm gay," said a tweet from the account of the former Real Madrid and Spain goalkeeper.

Sunday's social media exchange would suggest not - but change, however gradual, is clearly happening. You'd have to have listened to the stories of Jake Daniels and Zander Murraytalking about the weight they felt as teenagers in the game when they believed they had to hide their sexuality to get on in the game.

Casillas retired in following a career that saw him win three Champions Leagues and five La Liga titles at Real Madrid. What do George Clooney and Julia Roberts think about rom-coms? The significance. Put simply, neither man seemed to 'get' what it's like to be gay in the beautiful game.

And, as it turned out, Casillas wasn't coming out at all. After all, a hacked account or a poorly-worded tweet doesn't have the power to change lives - and if it was just a bad joke between old team-mates, reportedly made in response to Spanish media speculation about Casillas' private life… well, so what?

Iker Casillas 39 I :

Two hours after the 'respect me: I'm gay' post went up, Casillas deleted it - and replaced it with a new tweet, claiming he'd been hacked but that everything was now "in order". Those words represented, at least at first glance, a watershed moment for football.

And Puyol? He's still playing professional soccer, making him one of the few out current players. Had it been true, Casillas would have been the most significant male player to open up about their sexuality, in a sport where the number of out male role models can still be counted on the fingers of a pair of goalkeeping gloves.

The worry for those who work to make football a more inclusive place will be that neither Casillas nor Puyol appeared to be thinking about those things when they posted on social media. For a couple of hours on Sunday lunchtime, Iker Casillas was the most famous gay footballer in the world.

Until, of course, he wasn't. Those words represented, at least at first glance, a watershed moment for football. Australian striker Andy Brennan came out as gay inbecoming the first out gay Australian male footballer. And it stirred up the worst elements of social media, who have spent the past 24 hours hurling homophobic abuse at those - myself included - who point out that there are real-world consequences to the words of Casillas and Puyol.

They reveal all to Ali Plumb Image source, Getty Images.

But among all the supportive replies to Casillas' supposed coming out, there was a tell-tale sign that things weren't what they seemed. A new documentary has been released in Spain, discussing the timeline of the gay pride movement in the country.