Previously, the incident about Ravitch's suspected insult to Chinese was rumored to be boiling, but today Ravitch and huaxia happiness clubs issued a statement separately, saying that the photos were made according to the photographer's request and did not have any insult Chinese meaning in it.
The full text of Ravitch's statement reads as follows:
I am a player of Hebei Huaxia Happiness Club, Ezequil Ravitch, for the recent netizens claimed that my photo action has the meaning of "insult", I hereby clarify the following:
The photos were taken before the start of the season, and my teammates and I took the official makeup photos of the new season of the Chinese Super League at the request of the Chinese Super League company. At the request of the official photographer of the Chinese Super League, I cooperated with a series of relaxed and funny actions to enliven the atmosphere of the scene, and afterwards the official photo club of the Chinese Super League released it as a tidbit picture. In this regard, I have absolutely no malice, let alone any insult to Chinese.
I am very happy to come to China and play for Hebei Huaxia Happiness Football Club. It's a fate to be able to play here, I cherish this opportunity, I have a great time with my teammates, every Chinese around me is friendly and I enjoy life here. If this photo has caused trouble and misunderstanding to the Chinese public and the majority of fans and friends, I apologize, and I will take it as a warning in the future.
Previously, Ravitch posted a photo on his own Twitter, but his gestures have the meaning of insulting Asians in Western culture, so this is also considered to be insulting Chinese. And Ravitch also issued a statement today, saying that he had no intention of insulting Chinese.
In response, the Huaxia Happiness Club also issued a statement, saying that it was taken during winter training in Spain, and the gestures were made at the request of Spanish photographers. In the statement, Huaxia Happiness Club expressed its sincere apologies for the matter.