Andres Iniesta Issues Apology for Three Kings Day Blackface Photo

Former Barcelona star Andres Iniesta has apologised for posting a photo on social media that included two people in blackface makeup.

Iniesta posted the photo of himself and his family on Sunday in celebration of Spanish holiday Three Kings Day:

On Tuesday, Goal's Ryan Benson relayed a statement issued by a representative of the 34-year-old:

"On January 6, Andres Iniesta's family received the visit of the Three Kings at his house and decided to photograph himself to share this image with his fans on the player's social networks.

"The presence of the Three Kings belongs to the culture of our country, rooted for many years with which we want to celebrate the most magical day of the year with our children and is a tradition that the Iniesta Ortiz family repeats every year.

"We want to settle the controversy that has arisen around this picture in which the three people dressed and characterised with make-up appear as the Kings of the East, Gaspar, Melchior, and Baltasar, as happens in most cavalcades and events that were celebrated in Spain that day.

"At no time did Andres Iniesta want to bother anyone with that photograph, which is the image of the illusion in Spain and apologises to those people who may have been offended."

The holiday celebrates the three kings—one of whom is often depicted as a black man—who gave baby Jesus gifts in the biblical story.

Bleacher Report's Rob Blanchette, Sports Illustrated's Grant Wahl and journalist Musa Okwonga were among many who criticised Iniesta for the photo, which also remains on Instagram:

In 2017, Atletico Madrid star Antoine Griezmann faced a similar backlash after he posted a photo of himself wearing blackface as part of an "NBA All-Stars" costume he donned to a party.

Per football writer Tom Williams, Griezmann subsequently deleted the photo and tweeted an apology for the "clumsy" post.