Iker Casillas says his Twitter account was hacked after deleting a tweet from his account which claimed he was coming out as gay.
A message was posted to the former Real Madrid goalkeeper and Spain international's social media page on Sunday.
It read: "I hope you respect me: I'm gay," before using the hashtag Feliz Domingo, which translates to happy Sunday.
The 41-year-old deleted the message an hour later before posting a statement for his 9.6 million followers.
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Casillas apologised to his fans, as well as the LGBT community.
He said: "Hacked account. Luckily everything in order. Apologies to all my followers. And of course, more apologies to the LGBT community."
Ex-Barcelona defender Carles Puyol, who was Casillas' teammate at international level, replied to the initial tweet saying: "It's time to tell our story, Iker," followed by a love heart and kissing emoji. That message has also been deleted.
Casillas was married to journalist Sara Carbonero for five years before their separation in March 2021.
"Both Sara and I feel enormously proud of the family we are and of having shared a love that has filled us with happiness during all our years together," he said on Instagram.
"Today our love as a couple takes different but not distant paths since we’ll continue together in the marvellous task of continuing to be devoted parents as we have been up until now.
"This is a well-considered decision which we have taken through mutual agreement."
He added: "The respect, affection and friendship will remain forever.
"Our priority is, through affection and compromise, to share the wellbeing and education of our children and protect them so they grow in a stable and healthy environment.
"With these words we ask you please to respect our privacy in this moment of change."
Since the split, Casillas has been linked to numerous women. Last month saw him deny he was seeing popstar Shakira.
The 'Waka-Waka' hitmaker ended her relationship with Barcelona centre back Gerard Pique earlier this year. Casillas shared screenshots of articles reporting the story captioned: "Touch your nose. OMG [Oh My God]."
Casillas retired from football in 2020, a year after suffering a heart attack in FC Porto training.
Topics: Iker Casillas
Daniel Marland