Josh Cavallo, who last year became the first openly gay top-flight male footballer, has condemned Iker Casillas and Carles Puyol's recent Tweets in which the pair may have 'joked' about Casillas coming out as gay.
The iconic Real Madrid goalkeeper shocked the world on Sunday, announcing via his official Twitter account that he was apparently gay.
In a blunt statement, the World Cup winner simply put: "I hope you respect me: I'm gay. #happysunday".
But reports in Spain suggest that Casillas was joking off the back of the widespread dating rumours that had been surrounding him since the split from his ex-wife Sara Carbonero.
The tweet has since been deleted by Casillas. Although not before his former Spain teammate Puyol could weigh in with a response of his own.
Shortly after Casillas' tweet initially went live, Puyol replied in support of the goalkeeper.
"It's time to tell our story, Iker," with a heart and kiss emoji.
The wording of the response led to much speculation on social media that maybe the two former teammates had become lovers, but that seems not to be the case.
Barcelona legend Puyol has two children with his partner Vanesa Lorenzo.
Casillas with Real Madrid
What were the rumours surrounding Casillas?
Spanish outlet AS, per The Daily Mail, say that the tweet was a response to rumours that Casillas is in a possible relationship with Alejandra Onieva.
Onieva is a Spanish actress and it's been reported that Casillas has been seen privately with her on several occasions.
Meanwhile, last month he also rejected claims that he was seeing Shakira, the ex-wife of his other fellow Spanish teammate Gerard Pique.
Josh Cavallo's response
Cavallo, who plays in the top-flight of the Australian league, took the brave decision to become the firstly openly gay professional footballer last year.
He has tweeted condemning the actions of the two ex-pros.
"@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."
Well said, Josh.
Iker Casillas claims his account was hacked
In another recent development, Casillas has now claimed that his account was hacked.
He tweeted: "Hacked account. Luckily everything in order. Apologies to all my followers. And of course, more apologies to LGBT community."