Fans of Swedish football club Malmo FF (MFF) vent their anger on Swedish star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic for buying stakes in a rival club, by vandalising his statue and branding him 'Judas'.
Ibrahimovic has acquired almost 25 per cent of the shares in the Stockholm-based football team Hammarby, the rivals of MFF.
But Ibrahimovic's fans in Malmo, where he was born and started his professional career in 1999, were angered by his decision to invest in their rival club Hammarby. They, allegedly, vandalised his statue outside Malmo stadium, scorching it with flares and also spraying racist messages around it.
Videos posted on social media showed masked people lighting fires and aiming them at the statue. Angry supporters also slipped a toilet seat on to one of the statue's arms.
The fans also wrote 'Judas' on the entrance of the 38-year-old Swedish striker's residence, in Stockholm.
Ibrahimovic had hinted at the development earlier this week when he posted a short video on Instagram showing a football jersey in Hammarby's colours, with his name on the back.
Interestingly, Ibrahimovic had said that he did not expect any backlash from Malmo fans for his Hammarby move. "I know they won't be disappointed. What I have done for MFF will last for ever. This is completely different situation. It has nothing to do with where my career started," he had told Sportbladet.
After leaving Malmo, Ibrahimovic played for Ajax Amsterdam, Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona, AC Milan, Paris St Germain and Manchester United before spending the last two seasons in the US Major League with LA Galaxy.
Ibrahimovic, whose contract with Los Angeles Galaxy expires at the end of the year, has not announced whether he will continue his career at another club.
Ibrahimovic is Sweden's leading international goalscorer with 62 goals in 116 games.
