Zlatan Ibrahimovic Among Serie A Stars To Wear Red Face Paint To Raise Awareness For Domestic Violence Against Women

Zlatan Ibrahimovic was among the Serie A stars to wear red face paint in Italian top flight fixtures this past weekend.

The gesture was done as part of a campaign to raise awareness for domestic violence against women.

The red stripe is the symbol used for the movement, driven by Italian humanitarian organisation WeWorld Onlus, the players' association and the Lega Serie A - and so players and referees in the top tier had the mark across their cheek in this weekend's fixtures.

In recent years it's been a regular sight to see Serie A players don the stripe and take a stand, after statements were made in April and November 2018.

The motto of the campaign is "to give violence the red card" - hence the mark across the face of the footballers while they are on the pitch.

Prior to matches, several players such as Juventus centre-back Matthijs De Ligt and Lazio midfielder Luis Alberto posted pictures of themselves and their other halves both with the red mark - complete with the hashtag 'UnRossoAllaViolenza'.

Ibrahimovic, with the mark on his cheek, scored an outrageous long-range header as AC Milan beat Napoli 3-1 away from home last night.

This season the 39-year-old specimen of a striker has scored nine goals for the Rossoneri, who are top of the table after eight games.