Tottenham winger Lucas Moura has described himself as a "right-wing conservative" after throwing his support behind controversial Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro.
Brazil's presidential elections will take place next month, with Bolsonaro aiming to win a second term in office. The 67-year-old is viewed as a far-right candidate by many after expressing homophobic, sexist, racist and anti-environmentalist views. He also attempted to downplay the Covid pandemic, leading to a high death toll in Brazil.
Bolsonaro is currently losing in the polls to ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and there are fears the incumbent could use his military connections to stage a coup if he loses. The first round of the presidential votes in Brazil will take place on October 2.
Moura, who joined Tottenham from Paris Saint-Germain in January 2018, was asked by Cara a Tapa which candidate he will support in the upcoming elections. The 30-year-old backed Bolsonaro to win again, despite admitting there wasn't a "perfect candidate".
"I have no problem giving my opinion on this," said Moura. "I am a right-wing conservative, I follow Christian and family principles. I don't see a perfect presidential candidate, but I can't deny that Bolsonaro is the closest to what I believe."
Moura was also critical of Bolsonaro's rival Lula. He added: "Lula supports everything I am against. Left-wing ideology, socialism and even Communism which is nothing but Nazism. Supporting Lula is almost impossible."
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Moura doubled down on his views on Twitter on Saturday night. He wrote: "Communism is the most advanced stage of socialism. And for me communism and Nazism are two aberrations. Both have killed millions of people and are indefensible regimes! But if you want to counter that, prove it to me here with a successful example of communism."
Moura joined PSG from Sao Paulo in the summer of 2012. The Brazil international won 15 trophies in the French capital - including four Ligue 1 titles - before moving to England. He played a key role in Tottenham's run to the 2019 Champions League final, scoring a famous hat-trick against Ajax in the semi-finals to snatch victory in the last minute.
Moura has struggled for minutes at Tottenham since the appointment of Antonio Conte last November, losing his spot to Dejan Kulusevski. The former PSG star has played just 12 minutes of Premier League football this term and is currently nursing a calf injury.
Moura's views have been criticised by many Tottenham fans on social media. One supporter wrote: "Personally, I hope he never plays for Spurs again. I will never cheer him and the memory of that Ajax hat-trick has been permanently sullied. 'Bolsonaro... comes closest to what I believe?' Really Lucas? Which beliefs are those?"
Andrew Stetka, who hosts the Tottenham Depot Podcast, also tweeted: "It's not something we dissected on the podcast this week, but Lucas Moura's tweet is despicable and every Spurs fan should be able to say so.
"Just because he provided one of the more memorable moments in club history doesn't mean we brush his appalling off-field beliefs away... It should also be said, it's obviously not just his tweet. This is not a new-found thing with Lucas. He has a history of this and it should be called out. I'm always shocked at THFC fans that are unware of his record."
Tottenham have declined to comment on the matter.
