Football fans are not swallowing an apology from the Juventus women’s team after their official Twitter account posted an image of a player making a “slant-eyed” gesture.
The Juve women’s account posted the offending tweet on Thursday, showing Italian defender Cecilia Salvai with a training cone on her head and squeezing both her eyes to one side.
How to lose your job as a social media manager in one post.For 20 minutes the official Juventus Women’s account had this post up. Awful. pic.twitter.com/eehjorYg1q
— Dexerto (@Dexerto) August 5, 2021
The backlash was swift in coming, leading the Italians to delete the tweet and issue a mea culpa, claiming that no offense was intended despite the gesture being viewed as insulting to Asians.
“We sincerely apologize 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,” wrote the club.
To cap it off, the Italian giants added the hollow hashtag “Differences Make The Difference.”
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
That didn’t sit well with football fans, however, who blasted Juve for ever letting the post see the light of day in the first place.
“It took a player, a photographer, and a social media person together for the post. It’s shocking not one person realized the nature of this picture. If a few individuals couldn’t be self-aware about this post, then clearly you are not against racism & discrimination as you say,” scathed one fan.
“As a Juventus fan, I’m disgusted by both your original, unambiguously racist post and this half-assed attempt to dodge responsibility for it. ‘Not meant,’ ‘May have.’ Was meant. Did. My daughter is half-Asian and I regret buying her any of your gear, which is now tainted,” scorned another.
As a Juventus fan, I’m disgusted by both your original, unambiguously racist post and this half-assed attempt to dodge responsibility for it. “Not meant,” “May have.” Was meant. Did. My daughter is half-Asian and I regret buying her any of your gear, which is now tainted.
— Ethan Sacks (@ethanjsacks) August 5, 2021
“Undertones? Bruh this is just straight up racist,” claimed one fan, while another added: “Racism is not a difference of opinion. It’s not about whether it ‘may have offended anyone’. It was racist.”
“If I’m the CEO of [Jeep] or any of the major sponsors of [Juventus], I’m having some serious discussions with the club right now,” said another.
The row comes as defending champions Juventus prepare to kick off their Serie A Femminile campaign against Pomigliano at the end of this month.
Juve will be hoping to defend the title they’ve won for the last four seasons in a row.
