Veteran Portuguese winger Luis Figo is under fire from animal rights groups in Italy after apparently deliberately killing a black cat.
Banners lambasting the Inter Milan player were hung up near the club's training ground overnight from Friday to Saturday.
One said: 'Figo, you've killed a black cat, the whole world is disgusted with you.'
Another added: 'Figo, shame for Inter, justice for the cat.'
According to the Friday edition of the Libero newspaper, Figo deliberately killed a black cat that lived near the training ground with his car, believing it to be bringing bad luck to his team.
Figo has denied the reports that he deliberately ran over the cat.
'It's absolutely not true. I want an apology, otherwise I will be forced to take legal action,' the Portuguese midfielder said in a statement on Inter's website (www.inter.it).
Inter claimed that Figo was 'gravely offended on a human level' by the false accusation.
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