A timeline of the Iker Casillas ‘coming out’ controversy

Football has been rocked with a strange scandal over recent days, which has seen Iker Casillas and Carles Puyol at the centre of an internet storm.

Casillas claimed he had come out as gay, with Puyol also commenting that the pair were in a relationship.

The pair have both deleted the offending posts, which saw them subjected to a backlash online.

Casillas and Puyol, legends of Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively, have both given different responses after receiving widespread criticism.

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Here’s a timeline of what happened on Sunday.

1.10pm – The posts are uploaded

Casillas shared a picture of himself meeting with Puyol on Sunday afternoon, appearing to come out as gay.

"I hope you respect me: I'm gay," he wrote.

Puyol, who was a teammate of Casillas in the Spanish set up for a long time, replied: "It's time to tell our story, Iker.”

He also added a heart and kiss emoji in the post, which was also later deleted.

3.06pm – Joshua Cavallo leads criticism of the pair

The posts quickly attracted the ire of the internet, and openly gay Australian footballer Joshua Cavallo led the criticism.

Cavallo, who became the first openly gay active professional footballer after coming out in October last year, called their behaviour "disappointing and "beyond disrespectful".

"@IkerCasillas and @Carles5puyol joking and making fun out of coming out in football is disappointing. It’s a difficult journey that any LGBTQ+ ppl have to go through. To see my role models and legends of the game make fun out of coming out and my community is beyond disrespectful,” he wrote.

3.36pm – Casillas claims he’d been hacked

At first, Spanish publication AS suggested that Casillas' post could have been in relation to the speculation surrounding the rumours linking him romantically with Alejandra Onieva.

However, Casillas then issued a statement on Twitter and claimed that he had been hacked. The statement also saw him apologise to his followers and the LGBT community.

6.25pm – Puyol apologised for his tweet

Puyol said sorry for his actions, writing: "I have made a mistake. Sorry for a clumsy joke with no bad intentions and totally out of place. I understand that it may have hurt sensitivities. All my respect and support for the LGTBIQA+ community."

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