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THE president of a Madrid-based football club has stepped down in disgrace after a video emerged of him chasing the side’s Muslim players with a leg of Spanish ham and urging them to ‘suck it’.
Javi Poves, a fourth-tier CDC Moscardo employee, quit after the footage of his incident became viral on social media.
Poves, in a short video, says, “Come with me to check if this is of good quality.” He then runs over to a muslim player at the club.
He waves the leg of cured Ham in the face of the footballer while saying: “Take, eat, suck, suck, suck.”
Poves appears to return to the camera after the player has backed away.
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It is prohibited to touch and eat pork in Islam as it’s considered ritually and physical impure.
The 39-year old said in a statement: “It’s for entertainment!” The video was taken down because not everyone liked it, and some people wanted to use it as a weapon against Moscardo.
“It’s unacceptable. They can’t attack the club using me. It is shameful to associate something that was done in good humor, as a joke and not taken seriously, with religion, disrespect or low morals.
“I am sorry to everyone who has been offended. I believe you are on the wrong track.
“I am now preparing for my new role in life as a sheepherder. I’m training to be a pastor so I can take care of sheep, grow tomatoes…aubergines. “I want to thank everyone who has helped me in my work at the club.
The former professional footballer isn’t the first to have a run-in with controversy.
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He is a defender who quits playing after a single substitute appearance for Sporting de Gijon in La Liga in 2011, citing conscience.
“What I saw from the inside is clear: professional soccer is only about money and corrupt practices. “It’s capitalism and capitalism is the death,” he declared.
In 2019, he took over as president of Mostoles Balompie and renamed the club Flat Earth FC to reflect the now disproven shape of the earth.
During the Covid-19 epidemic, the club published several posts in social media denouncing the use face masks or vaccines to stop the virus spreading.
CDC Moscardo was named after Jose Moscardo Ituarte. Ituarte was a former Spanish soldier and ally of the fascist Francisco Franco during Spanish Civil War.
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