Ezequiel Lavezzi was photographed pulling the corner of his eyes in pictures taken for the Chinese Super League side Hebei China Fortune.
在为中国超级联赛河北华夏幸福俱乐部拍摄的照片中，拉维齐（Ezequiel Lavezzi）摆出双手绷紧眼角的pose。
The club has since said they were meant to be "light-hearted" and "wacky".
他的俱乐部此后表示，他们的目的只是为了“轻松”和“搞怪”。
But instead they have caused huge offence in China, with people accusing him of racism.
然而，这一举动在中国被认为是巨大的冒犯，一些人指责他这是种族歧视。
"This is an extremely abominable gesture that discriminates against Chinese people. Get him out of here!" one person wrote on social media platform Weibo.
“这是歧视中国人的一个非常可恶的姿态，让他离开这里！”一名网友在社交媒体平台微博上写道。
In a statement released on Sunday, Lavezzi said he had "no intention of insulting the Chinese people", and was simply making funny faces at the request of the photographer.
在星期天发表的声明中，拉维齐表示，他“没有打算侮辱中国人”，只是根据摄影师的要求，作出有趣的脸孔。
"I’m very happy to be here as part of the Hebei club," he added. "I have had great time here with my team mates and it has been a great journey. Every Chinese person around me is friendly and I love my life here.
他说：“我很高兴能够成为河北俱乐部的一员。” “我和我的队友相处得很好，这是一次很棒的旅程，我周围的每个中国人都很友善，我爱这里的生活。”
"I deeply apologise if this photo has offended the Chinese public and fans. I will be more careful in the future."
“如果这张照片冒犯了中国公众和粉丝，我深表歉意，将来我会更加小心。”
The club has also apologised.
俱乐部也为此道歉。
Lavezzi, 32, moved to the Chinese side last year from Paris St -Germain. The two-year deal was reported to be worth ?23.5m ($30.3m).
32岁的拉维齐去年从巴黎圣吉尔曼搬到中国。据报道，两年的合同交易价值达2350万英镑（约合3030万美元）。
