Chelsea football player Kenedy posted two controversial pictures from China on his Instagram story, infuriating Chinese soccer fans and netizens.
Shanghai Daily reports that the Brazilian defender posted the photos during the team’s pre-season tour game with Arsenal in Beijing last weekend.
His first post is a selfie with the text "Porra China" written, which translates to "F*** China." His second post is a photo of a Chinese security guard who looks to be asleep, and Kenedy captioned this photo "Acorda china Vacilão," which roughly translates to "Wake up China idiot."
Fans and netizens were furious with Kenedy's comments and demanded he apologize for the insulting posts.
Kenedy later posted another image containing a written apology. The photo read "Hello my friends, just wanna say sorry if someone was sad because I used the expression “porra”, was no racism, just a [sic] expression…big hug."
Chinese fans were still upset by the player's actions, and booed Kenedy when his name was called before the game with Arsenal, as well as any time he was in play, reported Shanghai Daily.
Chelsea Football Club also issued a bilingual apology on their official Weibo account that said they were "very sorry for the social media messages posted by Kenedy.”
“This behavior fell well below the very high standards we expect of our players," the post read. "Kenedy regrets the posts and any upset they have caused and has apologized. Everyone at Chelsea Football Club has the utmost respect for the Chinese people, who have been the most incredible hosts and we are extremely grateful for their hospitality."
Fans still were not satisfied at the lax apology initially given by Kenedy and demanded a more formal one.
Kenedy later posted another apology on Instagram, this one more sincere.
"I’d like to apologize again here," he wrote. "My offending Chinese people was not intentional. I like China very much and feel grateful for the Chinese people’s warm hospitality. I thank you for your support and hope you can forgive me. I hereby sincerely apologize.”
[Images via Shanghai Daily and Sportsnet]
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