A Spanish fourth-division football club president has resigned following widespread condemnation over footage showing him pursuing Muslim players whilst wielding a joint of pork during what he claimed was an Iberian ham promotional campaign.
Javi Poves’s departure from Club Deportivo Colonia Moscardo arrives amid heightened scrutiny of anti-Muslim behaviour within Spanish football, with the controversial video emerging shortly after Spain’s World Cup warm-up fixture against Egypt was marred by supporters directing anti-Muslim chants from the stands.
The former professional footballer—who has cultivated a reputation as one of Spanish football’s most provocative administrators—acknowledged his involvement through a statement on CDC Moscardo’s official X account, offering apologies to offended parties whilst maintaining the stunt constituted harmless entertainment rather than deliberate provocation.
“It was for entertainment! We took the video down because it didn’t please everyone, and I think some people also want to use it to attack Moscardo,” Poves stated, characterising the situation as “shameful” whilst arguing “something done with kindness, a joke, not serious, is being associated with religion, with disrespect, with low morality.”
The outgoing president directly addressed critics: “To everyone who was offended, I am sorry, but I think you are heading down the wrong path.”
The rapidly-circulating footage has drawn significant social media attention to the fourth-tier club, with online condemnation intensifying given the timing alongside anti-Muslim incidents during the Egypt match.
Poves revealed plans training as a shepherd tending sheep whilst growing vegetables including tomatoes and aubergines following his administrative departure from Spanish football.
The 2019-era president of Móstoles Balompié possesses an extensive track record courting controversy, having rebranded that club as Flat Earth FC promoting the scientifically debunked theory about planetary shape.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, both Poves and his club published social media content opposing vaccination programmes and face mask wearing, demonstrating his willingness embracing fringe positions for publicity purposes.
His unconventional promotional tactics continued last summer when CDC Moscardo shared footage showing their president kneeling in a goalmouth dressed in white robes apparently engaged in prayer, accompanied by the caption: “Follow the light… subscribe!”
The pork incident represents Poves’s most culturally insensitive publicity stunt yet, with the combination of religious disrespect and promotional commercialism sparking particular fury given Islam’s prohibition against consuming pork products.
His resignation suggests even Spanish football’s lower divisions face growing pressure maintaining cultural sensitivity standards, though Poves’s defiant tone throughout his statement indicates limited personal contrition beyond acknowledging others’ offence at his behaviour.
