Real Madrid and Spain defender Dean Huijsen has apologised after sharing content online that has been deemed racially offensive.
The 20-year-old, who joined Madrid from Bournemouth last term, reposted the video on social media.
He shared the reel to his Instagram page, which has 5.2million followers, and followers branded the post racist.
Huijsen took to Madrid’s Weibo account to apologise, saying: ‘I sincerely apologise to my Chinese friends. I previously forwarded content that included offensive messages unintentionally. It was completely unintentional, and I regret the distress caused.’
The post was posted in Chinese on the site, which is one of the biggest social media platforms in China.
The post, which Huijsen has now deleted, appeared to include comments relating to the person in the video. One comment read: ‘Even the Chinese call him Chinese,’ while another user posted: ‘You could blindfold him with dental floss.’
Other users flocked to the comments to demand the apology, with one posting: ‘While Real Madrid is speaking out against racism, Huijsen is making racist remarks against Chinese people. Why hasn’t the club responded?
‘Does your anti-racism stance only apply when Vinicius Jr is the one being discriminated against?’
Another posted: ‘If you don’t want to lose the Chinese market, please apologise immediately.’
It comes in the wake of a racism saga surrounding Madrid forward Vinicius Jr and Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni.
According to reports, Prestianni has told UEFA he directed a homophobic slur at his opponent rather than a racist comment during Benfica’s match against Real Madrid in the Champions League last week.
European football’s governing body is investigating ‘allegations of discriminatory behaviour’ after claims Prestianni called the Real Madrid winger a ‘monkey’ while covering his face during Tuesday’s tie.
The match was halted for 10 minutes by referee Francois Letexier, who made a crossed arms gesture to signal reported racial abuse inside Lisbon’s Estadio de Luz.
Madrid star Kylian Mbappe claimed Prestianni racially abused his team-mate five times, but the Argentinian insisted his opponent ‘misinterpreted what he thinks he heard’.
Now, according to ESPN, the Benfica midfielder has given evidence to the investigation, telling UEFA chiefs that he did not say ‘mono’ – Spanish for ‘monkey’ – but instead directed a homophobic slur towards Vinicius.
