The Spanish basketball club Casademont Zaragoza has incurred diplomatic trouble from Italy for advertising a restaurant chain with the word Mafia in its name.
The Italian ambassador in Madrid, Giuseppe Buccino Grimaldi, wrote to the first division club accusing it of "trivializing" a criminal organization.
The basketball players from Spain's north-east have a sponsorship contract with a chain whose name translates as "The Mafia sits down at the table" since this year.
In a letter to the president of the association, Reynaldo Benito, the ambassador referred to the common fight within the EU against organized crime. The link between the Mafia and social gatherings trivialized their "illegal and reprehensible activities," the ambassador said.
The diplomat wrote: "The image of the Mafia at the table also damages the culture of Mediterranean food that Spain and Italy share and that makes eating an important moment of social exchange and personal development.
