Spain’s Olympic basketball team in controversial photo

Here’s the controversial picture of the Spanish basketball team where they posed for a print ad in which they stand pulling at the sides of their eyes in a slit-eyed gesture.

The picture, used in a newspaper ad for a courier company that sponsors the Spanish Basketball Federation, took up a full page of the Spanish language daily La Marca. Both the men’s and women’s teams posed in separate images, striking the pose in a campaign aimed at supporting the Spanish basketball efforts in China.

Madrid is thought to be one of the front runners to land the 2016 Summer Games (final venue to be announced next year) but analysts say this development may hurt Spain’s chances.

Although no offense was intended by either the players or the Spanish federation, the picture is likely to cause controversy in Olympic host Beijing and could be interpreted so as to lead to accusations of racism.