Tuesday, April 13, 2021 at 10:14 AM• Jeroen van Poppel • Last update: 10:26

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is once again under fire in Italy. The 39-year-old AC Milan striker was accused of shooting a lion last week and is now said to have violated corona rules. Ibrahimovic was photographed in company at the Tano passami olio restaurant in Milan, while measures in Italy require that eateries be closed. Only take-away meals are allowed.

The photos are in the possession of Fanpage.it, which asked restaurant owner Tano Simonato if Ibrahimovic was present. Simonato confirmed this in a telephone conversation, in which the star chef also denied the existence of the corona virus. Ibrahimovic cannot be fined for violating the corona rules: the Swede would have to have been caught red-handed by a government official. The photos are according to that aspect Fanpage.it therefore useless.

Ibrahimovic’s management denies that the striker has broken the rules. “It is not correct, the restaurant was indeed closed and it was a work meeting.” Restaurant owner Simonato also nuances the reporting. “We just had a bottle of wine with friends, we’ve been friends for a long time.”

Last week, Ibrahimovic was also negatively in the news. The experienced center striker has according to the Swedish newspaper Expressing In 2011, shot a lion in the wild in South Africa and then had the beast imported to its home in Sweden. A striking accusation, given that Ibrahimovic regularly calls himself The Lion and even has a tattoo of a lion on his back.