Leeds United vice-president Ercole Cellino has denied that he is racist or anti-Semitic after he posted Nazi hashtags to accompany an Instagram photograph.
Ercole is the son of Leeds supremo Massimo Cellino and lists himself as the club's vice-president on his Instagram account.
He took to his account earlier today to post a photograph of himself having his hair cut short and wrote: "Alternative lunch break…Yes I did…Welcome to Calabria."
The Leeds vice-president then added a number of hashtags which sparked outrage, as he wrote: "#gestapo, #ss, #army, #military, #guerilla, #warrior."
Ercole has quickly issued a message in an effort to explain his actions. He posted the message in Italian, explaining that the hashtags were "jokes" and it "was not my intention to offend anyone."
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He then insisted that he cannot be classed as racist or anti-Semitic.
Ercole added: "Look, I can be anything but anti-Semitic and racist."
However, his use of a winking emoji at the end of his statement drew criticism.
It remains to be seen whether the Football League or the English Football Association will choose to look into the incident, but it is yet more coverage Leeds could do without at a time in which a number of fans are protesting his father's ownership of the club.
