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Netherlands deny mocking Haka ahead of World Cup
Published 12:40 11 Jul 2023 BST
Updated 12:40 11 Jul 2023 BST
Homesport
Footage of the Dutch and Spanish sides appearing to mock the Haka has gone viral
The Netherlands women's team have denied that their players tried to mimic the Haka - the traditional Maori dance - and insisted that it was an exercise on "channeling your inner strength".
Spain's women's team have also come in for heavy criticism after video footage of the two sides appearing to mock the dance in the build up to the women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, which begins on July 20.
Following a wave of criticism online, the Royal Dutch Football Association have defended the video and said that their players were "absolutely not" mimicking the historic dance.
"The clip from the video online is part of a training [session] the team recently had in the Netherlands," the Royal Dutch Football Association told The Telegraph.
"At the physical part of the training, the team did an exercise that was focused on channeling your inner strength and was absolutely not referring to the Haka or mimicking it. There was no intention of showing disrespect to anyone.
"In sports the Haka is known and admired by all professional athletes. The Dutch women’s football team is no exception to this.
"Our visit to the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand will provide us with the opportunity to get to know more about both host countries. We look forward to our stay and the pōwhiri ceremony that awaits us."
Both the Netherlands and Spain have deleted the videos that were posted to their Instagram accounts separately.
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