A Bayern Munich player has apologised if he "hurt someone's feelings" after appearing to dress up as a suicide bomber for Halloween.

The Bundesliga giants came in for criticism after they posted an image on Twitter of several first-team stars in fancy dress.

Their defender Niklas Sule could be seen looming large at the back, and forward Sandro Wagner's distinctive facial hair was visible beneath a Batman mask.

Halloween is a scary celebration with exaggerated costumes, it was not my intention to anger anyone through my disguise or hurt someones feelings. pic.twitter.com/ZZumqzpLBD — Rafinha Official (@R13_official) 1 November 2018

But the Brazilian right back Rafinha seemed to be wearing traditional Arab robes and a headscarf, complemented by dark shades, a fake moustache and a box plastered with the word "vorsicht", German for "danger" or "caution".

The post attracted a heavy backlash, with some accusing the costume of being racist and calling on the club to apologise.


Rafinha, whose full names is Marcio Rafael Ferreira de Souza, posted on Twitter: "Halloween is a scary celebration with exaggerated costumes, it was not my intention to anger anyone through my disguise or hurt someone's feelings."

One Twitter user had written after the image emerged: "Seriously? Someone dressed up as a bomber?"

Another user accused the club of being "tone deaf", while another condemned the player in question for thinking "it would be funny to portray Arabs as terrorists".

"He represents Bayern and a large part of Bayern's fanbase are Arabs," the tweet adds.

"We demand an apology."

Others simply replied to the photo - which has since been deleted - with the word "racism".