In November, a day after his investment in Hammarby, Ibrahimovic filed a "hate crime" complaint after the statue was attacked with fire and paint and the word 'Judas' daubed across the front door of his Stockholm home. In the latest incident the statue had collapsed against the barrier protecting it, its feet partially chopped off.

"A vandalism complaint has been lodged," a police spokesperson told AFP. There are calls from local inhabitants for the statue outside Malmo's city stadium to be moved. "I can understand that many people are disappointed in Zlatan's behaviour but vandalising a statute is simply unworthy.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2020