The Serbian women's volleyball team has come under fire for striking a "culturally insensitive" pose over the weekend.
In a team photo, the women are shown to be stretching out their eyes with their fingers, a gesture commonly used to mock people of Asian descent.
They took the photo after beating Poland and securing their place in the 2018 Women's Volleyball World Championship, The Huffington Post reports. The championship will take place in Japan.
The photo was initially included as part of a press release by The International Federation of Volleyball (FIVB), but has since been removed.
FIVB condemned the team's behaviour in a statement.
"The FIVB does not condone the actions of the Serbian team," it read. "The FIVB will work with the Serbian Volleyball Federation to ensure that the players understand that their behaviour has led to undesirable consequences and that such culturally insensitive actions do not happen again."
Last month, a similar incident happened with Argentinian footballer Ezequiel Lavezzi, who used the gesture during a photo shoot.
He released a public statement saying that he was given instructions to do so by the official photographer.
"I was trying to make some interesting photos by making some funny faces, which would be used afterwards for entertainment purposes."
Newshub.
