Real Madrid and Spain defender Dean Huijsen has apologised after sharing content online that has been deemed racially offensive.
The 20-year-old, who enjoyed a breakout season in the Premier League with Bournemouth last term before a blockbuster move to his homeland, reposted the video on social media.
He shared the reel to his Instagram page – his account 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. It is said to boast more than 580million monthly users.
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.’
Real Madrid’s Dean Huijsen has been forced to apologise after sharing a video that has been deemed racist
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.’
A third wrote: ‘Huijsen must apologise to Chinese fans, now!’
Though an apology has now been made, there have been no official statements on any of Madrid’s channels other than Weibo.
A number of supporters are now demanding the apology is made global, with Madrid’s Instagram and X accounts – which currently have 181m and 49m followers respectively – not mentioning the incident.
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.
Racist comments were included in the video, which Huijsen has now deleted from his profile
Fans flooded to the comments to demand an apology, which has been given by Huijsen on social media page Weibo
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.
