Lazio falconer fired for sharing explicit photos

Italian club Lazio have fired the man responsible for handling the club’s eagle mascot after he shared a video online of his own prosthetic penis.

Falconer Juan Bernabe has been making an eagle, named Olimpia, since the 2010-11 season and flies the bird at the Serie A club’s Stadio Olimpico before matches.

However, Lazio – whose crest is emblazoned with an eagle – has parted ways with Bernabe after he shared pictures and videos online of his penis on social media after undergoing implant surgery.

Lazio said they were “shocked” by the picture and Bernabe had been sacked with “immediate effect”.

The Serie A club added that they were aware of “the shared pain that the loss of the eagle will cause fans for the upcoming home games” but added that it was “impossible to associate a symbol of our history with such an individual”.

Bernabe defended his decision to publish the video, telling radio station Radio24 that he tried to raise awareness of the operation and shared it on his personal social media and added that “nudity is normal, I grew up in an open naturist family.

The 56-year-old was suspended by the club in 2021 for performing a fascist salute at the end of a match against Inter Milan.

Bernabe was filmed making a greeting and chanting “duce, duce”, which translates to “leader, leader” and is commonly associated with former Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini.

“I did it and I don’t regret it because I admire Mussolini, he did good things for Italy like Franco did for Spain,” said Bernabe in 2021.