SS Lazio on Tuesday fired the club doctor responsible for performing penis surgery on their falconer, who was dismissed the day before for publishing the results of the operation online.
Speaking to journalists outside Rome’s Palazzo Montecitorio, which is home to the Italian Chamber of Deputies, 67-year-old Italian Senator and Lazio club owner Claudio Lotito said that Gabriele Antonini had been fired “at the speed of light” after appearing in controversial photographs and videos posted on social media by Juan Bernabe.
Spaniard Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with club mascot Olimpia the eagle since 2010, caused a scandal when he posted images of his erect penis following surgery.
Photo: AP
Antonini put Bernabe under the knife on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis designed to improve the 56-year-old’s sexual performance.
“I haven’t once missed Mass in 67 years, I behave in an irreproachable manner in every sense, I fight for change and morals and you behave like that?” the AGI news agency quoted Lotito saying of Bernabe. “He was with us for 15 years, but I sacked him within the hour because I don’t answer to anybody.”
Lotito said that the pair were dismissed for contravening “Lazio’s code of ethics, which requires behavior that reflects the true values of sport.”
He added that Bernabe’s dismissal meant that Olimpia would no longer fly high around Rome’s Stadio Olimpico, as the presence of the eagle was “tied to that person.”
“I got the eagle mascot to create enthusiasm and passion among child supporters, but the person who looked after that eagle behaved in a morally shoddy manner,” he said.
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