Lionesses star Lucy Bronze has addressed the controversy surrounding former Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas after he allegedly ‘joked’ about being gay. The ex-Real Madrid shot-stopper came out on Twitter but quickly deleted the post –– later claiming his account had been hacked.

What happened with Casillas? 

On Sunday, October 9th, Casillas posted a blunt tweet, which translated to: “I hope you respect me: I’m gay.” 

Soon after, ex-Barcelona skipper Carlos Puyol responded to his former teammate’s message and wrote: “It’s time to tell our story, Iker,” along with heart and kiss emojis. 

The initial tweet was live for more than an hour before being deleted. 

Later, Casillas told his followers his account had been hacked but that he had now regained control. 

"Hacked account. Luckily everything in order. Apologies to all my followers,” he wrote. 

Meanwhile, Puyol also tweeted an apology but admitted his response to Casillas was in fact him and that he had “made a mistake.” 

“Sorry for a clumsy joke with no bad intentions and totally out of place. All my respect and support for the LGBTQIA+ community,” he added.

What was the reaction to Casillas’ tweet?

After his initial tweet, Casillas was inundated with homophobic abuse and a number of people were disappointed with the former goalkeeper for allegedly joking about coming out. 

Adelaide United star Josh Cavallo, who became the first active professional men’s footballer to come out last October, wrote: "Joking and making fun out of coming out in football is disappointing. 

"It's a difficult journey that any LGBTQ+ people 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."

What has Lucy Bronze said? 

Speaking ahead of England’s game against the Czech Republic on Tuesday, Bronze stressed that the reaction to Casillas’ tweet proves that football has yet to normalise conversations over sexuality. 

WATCH: Lucy Bronze reacts to Iker Casillas' 'gay' tweet

“Obviously, at the beginning, no one really knew it was a joke,’ the Barcelona star said. 

“But I think the reaction that has been had on social media in general, from not knowing what it was to thinking it was a joke to being hacked…the reaction just shows that there still needs to be a lot of education [and] openness on these kind of subjects because that kind of reaction wasn’t normal.

“Whether it was a joke or not, I don’t know Casillas so I don’t know, but I think it shows there is still a lot of education and conversations that need to be had to make the world and the social media world a better place and more comfortable to have open conversations when they are real.”

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