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Serie A giants Lazio have officially parted ways with their falconer after reports emerged that he had shared images of his penile implant on social media.
Juan Bernabe, the man in charge of flying the club’s eagle mascot before kickoff, was fired after the club became aware of the photographs and videos on his social media accounts.
The Serie A club released a segment regarding the incident on Monday, 13 January, saying that it was “appalled” to see the images and read Bernabe’s claims.
Reuters has attempted to contact Bernabe for comment.
Bernabe has since made an appearance on an Italian radio show , Radio24, talking about his implant and the procedure. He said that he wanted to bring awareness to the operation itself, adding that “nudity is normal, I grew up in an open-minded, naturist family”.
He also said that he had shared the images to his own private account on X (formerly known as Twitter), and therefore it was a private matter.
Bernabe was the instructor of Olympia, a white-headed eagle Lazio adopted in 2010. He had been in the role since the 2010/11 season. Olympia’s flight over Rome’s Olympic Stadium before matches has become a symbolic moment for fans.
The club’s statement added that they recognised supporters would be disappointed at the eagle’s absence from home games.
“The club is aware of the pain the absence of the eagle will cause the fans but it has become impossible to associate our historical symbol with such (an) individual,” the statement added.
Bernabe was in 2021 suspended by Lazio after he was filmed at the stadium cheering for Italian dictator Benito Mussolini after a match against Inter Milan.
At the time, he said he “did it and I don’t regret it because I admire Mussolini, he did great things for Italy as Franco did for Spain”, reports the BBC.
