Colombia captain James Rodriguez has reportedly caused controversy in his homeland after brandishing his middle finger at journalists.
As reported by Marca, the press has been critical of the side’s form as of late, with the team sitting in fourth spot in the CONMEBOL qualifying group for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
The Real Madrid midfielder’s exact motives for the gesture are unclear but relations between the national team and the press are reported to have been frayed in recent weeks.
Luis Acosta, the AFP photographer who captured the image at the team’s Bogota base on Saturday, described to Colombian newspaper El Tiempo the moment Rodriguez sent the ‘pistol’.
‘There were three agency photographers and two journalists from the Win Sports channel,’ he explained.
‘Further back were all our other colleagues doing interviews with the players.
‘Then, from the second floor of the building, where the gymnasium is, James went out to the window and ‘pistoled’ where we were.’
There are now suggestions the 25-year-old could be sanctioned by the Colombian FA for making the obscene gesture while dressed in national team kit.
A debate soon erupted on social media, with Colombians alternately criticizing and defending the 25-year-old star.
The picture even spawned its own hashtag on Twitter: #NoJodanAJames (“don’t fuck with James”), which was the social network’s top trending topic in Colombia.
Supporters said Rodriguez was likely under a lot of pressure ahead of the match, with Colombia occupying the last automatic qualifying place for next year’s World Cup in Russia, but only a point ahead of Ecuador and Chile.
“James Rodriguez is a humanly imperfect being. He puts up with a lot from the sports media’s yellow (tabloid) journalism and destructive stories,” wrote Twitter user Miryam Riveros.