World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) superstar Chris Jericho was suspended indefinitely Friday after nearly being arrested in Brazil for desecrating the country's flag during a match.
In a statement, WWE called Jericho's attempt to incite the crowd in Sao Paulo an "irresponsible act" and apologized to the citizens and government of Brazil.
During the bout Thursday night against WWE champion CM Punk, the 41-year-old Jericho grabbed the flag — which his opponent had been holding up — crumpled it, threw it to the mat and kicked it out of the ring.
The stunt was not approved by WWE management, and police at ringside quickly intervened, informing Jericho that it is a crime under Brazilian law to desecrate the flag.
Jericho was reportedly told to apologize or face arrest, so he grabbed a microphone and expressed his regrets.
Jericho, who has been with WWE for most of the past 13 years, issued repeated apologies after the show via Twitter and through the WWE.
"I made a bad judgment call in the course of entertaining [WWE] fans in Brazil," Jericho said. "I apologized to the people in the crowd for showing disrespect. It was a bad move. I did it with [our] fans' entertainment in mind and I'll accept the consequences for that."
