How did Hebei striker Ezequiel Lavezzi find himself at the centre of social media racism storm?

Argentina international Ezequiel Lavezzi has issued an apology through his Chinese club after publicity photos that showed him making a slant-eyed pose caused outrage on social media.

“The club has discussed this matter with Lavezzi, who said he meant no racial offence and apologised deeply for any harmful impression that it created,” the club said in a statement on Sunday.

It said some of the photos in the promotional shoot taken earlier this year were meant to be in a “light-hearted” and “wacky” vein.

But the team nonetheless conceded it had not been vigilant enough in preventing the controversy and would “draw lessons” from it, vowing to prevent anything similar occurring again.

The pictures drew condemnation on China’s Twitter-like Weibo platform, with outraged users demanding Lavezzi be punished or even tossed out of the league.

“This is an extremely abominable gesture that discriminates against Chinese people. Get him out of here!” said one posting.