SLE News - In March of this year, international soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo purchased a massive Buddha-head statue for display on the front lawn of his luxurious mansion in Spain.
On October 20, Ronaldo (named after President Ronald Reagan) did the unthinkable. He posted a photo of himself on Instagram posing with his right leg on the base of the Buddha statue, universally considered a sign of disrespect.
The post under the title “Bom Dia” (Good Morning), has unleashed an avalanche of angry comments from fans worldwide against Ronaldo who captains the Real Madrid team, ten-time champions of Europe.
"Hi dude but its basic knowledge that you cannot put your foot on a religious statue," one fan said while another implored: "Pls don 't do this. We r buddhist. My god. My trust. but under of your legs. It's so rude.”
A virtual tour of his villa in La Finca, a little town on the outskirts of Madrid which Ronaldo posted online in December 2015 revealed a glimpse of a white statue of a seated Buddha with a vase of flowers beside it.
Born in Portugal where 81% of the population is Roman Catholic, 3.3% Christian, and only about 15,000 Buddhist, Ronaldo seems to have a penchant for Buddhist statues. But, apparently, little understanding of Buddhism.
Within a few days, of the posting of his controversial front-lawn photo, there were 28,000 comments, with many demanding an apology from the soccer heavyweight and urging him to take down the offensive image.
Ronaldo who has a total of over 244 million followers across Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter has yet to respond.