DONETSK, August 3. /TASS/. The opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics was a blasphemy, former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter Francimar Barroso from Brazil told TASS.

" This (the Paris Olympics opening ceremony - TASS) is not about having respect to Christians," he said.

"This is so disrespectful to our religion, Christians," he said, adding "It is very important you put this in your mind: do not [watch] (Olympics - TASS)" on TV.

He emphasized that he was proud to support Russia regarding sports and traditional values.

The Olympics opening ceremony, which took place on July 26, featured a provocative parody of ‘The Last Supper’ mural by Leonardo da Vinci. The artistic director of the Olympic Games opening ceremony, Thomas Jolly, claimed in an interview with the French media that he had not been inspired by da Vinci’s masterpiece, while the Olympics organizers insisted that the provocative parody took inspiration from a pagan feast of the Greek gods, with Dionysus, the god of festivities and wine, arriving at the table. Later, the New York Post newspaper wrote citing an Olympics spokesperson that Jolly "took inspiration from Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting to create the setting."

Some excerpts from the performance flooded the social media and caused an uproar both in Russia and abroad. In particular, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban slammed the opening ceremony for the lack of culture and public morals in the West. Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov told TASS that "there were some absolutely disgusting moments" during the ceremony and said it was a shame that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had approved it.