Juventus Women have been heavily criticised after posting a tweet which appeared to mock Asian people.The club shared a photograph of Cecilia Salvai on Twitter last night – the defender was shown using her fingers to narrow her eyes and wearing a red training cone on her head in the shape of a hat. The post also included a number of emojis which appeared to make light of the offensive gesture Salvai was making.Much to the astonishment of social media users, the post remained live for around 25 minutes, despite many urging the club to take the photo down. It appears the tweet was scheduled in advance using the social media management platform Hootsuite.Outrage built as the post was widely shared, with Sky Sports News football reporter Anton Toloui urging for the the person responsible to be fired.

"Juventus has deleted the clearly racist tweet," he said. "Absolute disgrace anyone thinks this is appropriate never mind funny. We've approached the club for a response, it had better involve the words 'sorry', 'out of order', 'grossly inappropriate' and 'fired'."

Juventus Women eventually deleted the post and issued an apology. The club wrote: "We sincerely apologise that our tweet, which was not meant to cause controversy or have any racial undertones, may have offended anyone. Juventus has always been against racism and discrimination. #DifferencesMakeTheDifference."

Many did not see the apology as adequate, however, criticising Juventus Women for suggesting the post did not "have any racial undertones."

US sports anchor Mike Leslie posted: "Juventus says their tweet, which was very clearly intended to have racial undertones, was not intended to have racial undertones. Good job, good effort."

The Guardian’s women’s football reporter Suzy Wrack implied Juventus Women would soon be making another apology: "Waiting for 'we apologise if our apology caused any offence or was perceived as defensive to anyone''."

Juventus did indeed issue another apology, this time through the club website. 

"We would like to express our deepest apologies for the social post that read as racially discriminatory content on the Juventus Women’s Football Twitter account yesterday," it reads. "Juventus immediately realised that the Club had committed an unforgivable mistake, and this mistake has seriously hurt the feelings of all people who oppose racial discrimination.

"For such a mistake, the Club assumes full responsibility for the occurrence of the incident and its serious impact. Opposing racial discrimination and supporting the common development of multiple cultures are the principles that Juventus as a Club has always adhered to and continues to put into practice.

"Juventus acknowledges this mistake, and the Club will make the most profound reflection and thorough review to prevent similar things from happening again."

It is not the first time a footballer has made the gesture. Former Napoli and Paris Saint-Germain winger Ezequiel Lavezzi was forced to apologise in 2017 after he made the same gesture during a photoshoot for his club Hebei China Fortune.

Juventus have been the dominant force in women's football in Italy, clinching the past four Serie A titles. They won all 22 of their domestic league fixtures last term to qualify for next season's Champions League. 

Former Arsenal manager Joe Montemurro is at the helm of the club. The Australian left the Gunners at the end of last season and took charge of Juventus in June.