Posted on 10/11/2011 2:09:48 PM PDT by NYer
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Saudi Arabia’s religious police detained a Colombian soccer player at a shopping mall on Oct. 7 for not covering up an image of Jesus tattooed on his shoulder.
Juan Pablo Pino, 24, who plays with the Al Nasr Soccer Club in Saudi Arabia, was wearing a sleeveless shirt while out with his pregnant wife at a mall in the capital city of Riyadh.
Locals who saw the tattoo began insulting him, which drew the attention of the officers from a group known as the Police Force for the Promotion of Virtue of the Prevention of Vice, who detained the couple.
The local paper Sharq reported that officers escorted the pair to a car and then waited for Al Nasr club officials to arrive. Pino and his wife were later released.
The Efe news agency reported that after the detention, the soccer club issued a statement saying Pino was “deeply saddened” over what had happened and that he fully respects Saudi law. He also said that he and his wife had been shopping for clothing they could wear that would be “more respectful” of Islamic customs.
Sharq reported that after the incidents on Friday, Pino’s wife has asked that the family leave the country.
The Al Nasr club has asked its Argentinean coach Gustavo Costas try to convince the couple to change their minds but so far he has not been able to do so, the newspaper said.
In September, Costas—who was head coach for the Peruvian soccer team Alianza Lima, before coaching Saudi Arabia—revealed some details about his new life to Peru's El Comercio newspaper.
He recalled that while he was in Lima, he made the sign of the cross before every game and wore a rosary around his neck. Now in Saudi Arabia, he said, “I can’t do it. I do it before heading out to the field, in the locker room. If I sign myself, they’ll kill me or stone me,” Costas said.
Last year a similar incident took place when the Romanian soccer player Mirel Radoi of the Al Hilal club kissed the tattoo of a cross he has on his arm after scoring a goal. The gesture earned him the ire of many Muslims in Saudi Arabia, where Islam is the dominant religion.
He recalled that while he was in Lima, he made the sign of the cross before every game and wore a rosary around his neck. Now in Saudi Arabia, he said, “I can’t do it. I do it before heading out to the field, in the locker room. If I sign myself, they’ll kill me or stone me,” Costas said.
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Dominant religion? Understatement of the year.
I think I’d rather scrub toilets for minimum wage in the U.S. than to work for large money in Saudi Arabia.
Freedom isn’t free.
A country so insecure of it’s own faith; that even something as simple as acknowledging God in another faith - scares them.
If I were Allah, I’d smack them for being degenerate idiots. But, once you started - could you force yourself to stop?
They are insecure, because the one they call Allah is insecure.
Dominant? How about ONLY?
Juan shoots, Jesus saves!
Our government (both parties) insist Saudis are our allies; as someone who watched the WTC burn from NJ, I don’t believe them.
If you would prefer to scrub toilets, you would have to stay here, the heathens crap in holes in the floor. That was the second worst thing about my stay there.
If they were virtue police they would have to assassinate all the Imans and mullahs and those complaining about Christ image..let sa and iramn have at it...
> Our government (both parties) insist Saudis are our allies;
> as someone who watched the WTC burn from NJ, I don’t
> believe them.
Neither do I.
With “friends” like that, who needs enemies?
true enough, and allah is insecure because he is not God and is worried about the return of Christ...be afraid, be very afraid...ya hear?
> If you would prefer to scrub toilets, you would have to
> stay here, the heathens crap in holes in the floor. That
> was the second worst thing about my stay there.
LOL!!
But now you have my curiosity up.
What was the FIRST worst thing about your stay there?
Don’t buy the story that muslims honor Issa. They do not. He is a prophet to them, but not the Son of God. You can see here how He is treated by muslims. Would any other prophet picture get this response? I think not.
Sounds like most liberals when they see or hear a Christian.
Maybe he should tattoo Mohammed on the other arm...
There were some toilets like that in some of the markets in Moscow, apparently muslims like to squat like that.
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