Gareth Bale tracks back on infamous slogan putting golf ahead of his ex-Real Madrid team

Retired soccer star Gareth Bale has refuted the claims that he prioritized golf over the game while being with Real Madrid. The former Welsh captain said he never used to play that much and that it was more of a case of 'misinformation.'

It is no secret that Gareth Bale loves golf, but the star athlete has been targeted for his love of the sport by critics in the past. Now, the former Real Madrid right-winger has admitted that he was 'slaughtered' by the Spanish media during his time at the club.

"Obviously a lot of players go to Madrid to be a Galáctico but I went there to play football," he said in a GQ interview. "So what I achieved as a Welsh player on the pitch abroad was actually incredible."

"I was always winning big moments. The other stuff, though... I actually never used to play golf that much. But because people believe what they read, they created a character that I'm not. I was probably guilty of not defending myself and in some ways I was slightly naive, that is probably the correct word, about going to Madrid and not knowing the severity," he added.

For the uninitiated, Gareth Bale was criticized heavily during the Euro 2020 qualifiers in 2019 when he celebrated in front of a flag bearing the slogan "Wales. Golf. Madrid. In that order." Now, Bale feels that he was 'hard done' by the criticism.

"For one thing, no one knew how much golf I actually played," he continued. "If I ask you now how much golf you reckon I played, you'd probably say three or four times a week maybe, something along those lines?

"I played once every two to three weeks, but only on a day off. I'd never play a game for eight hours, I was always very professional about it. But people don't know that so they make up that slogan. We'd just qualified for the Euros so I'm obviously celebrating, the whole team's there, then someone puts the flag in front of me. What am I supposed to do?"

He added that he could not throw his country's flag, as it was the worst thing he could do, and that he was just celebrating with his friends. He stated that he never touched the flag, but the situation was taken out of context.

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"I got absolutely slaughtered," Gareth Bale slams Spanish media

Gareth Bale further accused the Spanish press of going overboard in its criticism.

"I got absolutely slaughtered [by the Spanish press]," he said. "I felt a bit hard done by because it all comes down to misinformation. I obviously don't prioritise golf more than I do my country and my club and physically haven't done one thing wrong.

"I look back at it now and it's like, it is what it is. I can't do anything about it. You have to laugh or you cry. So I laughed," he added.

Bale was seen at several Pro-Ams this year, with the BMW PGA Championship Pro-Am being his most recent outing.