Juventus have apologised for posting a racist image on Twitter.
The Juventus Women's team shared an image of defender Cecilia Salvai wearing a cone as a hat and slanting her eyes with her fingers, which follows harmful, long-standing caricatures of people from Asia.
The only caption that accompanied the picture was of a face between two hands to replicate Salvai's expression.
What has been said?
The tweet was condemned as racist and eventually deleted before the Bianconeri account posted an apology.
It read: "We sincerely apologise that our tweet, which was not meant to cause controversy or have any racial undertones, may have offended anyone.
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
"Juventus has always been against racism and discrimination."
What else was said?
The Italian club did not make any further comment regarding the image.
However, the club's apology did not satisfy many of their followers, as several accounts took issue with the insistence that Salvai's pose was not meant to "have any racial undertones".
Meanwhile, Salvai's latest Instagram post has been flooded with comments calling her out for the gesture.