The Juventus F.C. Women soccer team has been called out after the official Twitter account shared with its 111K followers a photograph of one of its players making a racist gesture.
via: New York Post
The player, Cecilia Salvai, used her fingers to slant her eyes while wearing a cone on her head, and the tweet included emojis doing the same.
The photo faced immediate backlash and was removed after 25 minutes.
“We sincerely apologise that our tweet, which was not meant to cause controversy or have any racial undertones, may have offended anyone,” the team said in a statement about the photo, which was taken at a practice session in Barcelona. “Juventus has always been against racism and discrimination.”
We sincerely apologise that our tweet, which was not meant to cause controversy or have any racial undertones, may have offended anyone. Juventus has always been against racism and discrimination. #DifferencesMakeTheDifference
— Juventus Women (@JuventusFCWomen) August 5, 2021
The tweet came as anti-Asian hate crimes have risen over the last year amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2019, men’s striker Moise Kean, who is black, was subjected to racist abuse by fans. He was critiqued by his teammates and coach, who said he provoked the taunts with a celebration.
Who thought it was a good idea, to take the picture in the first place.
