Sevilla backs Spanish cucumbers blamed for E. coli

SEVILLE, Spain (AP)—The Sevilla soccer club is lending support to the farmers of Spanish cucumbers initially blamed for a deadly E. coli outbreak in Germany.

Sevilla president Jose Maria Del Nido showed off the team’s preseason outfits, which featured a small badge on the sleeve reading “I (love) cucumbers” over top the image of a cucumber.

Del Nido says the gesture was made “in defense of the cucumber of Murcia … after the war it had with Germany over the cucumber.”

German authorities initially pointed the finger at Spanish cucumbers for the fatal outbreak that has left at least 50 people dead. Spanish farm associations say farmers lost millions of dollars in lost produce sales, and many jobs were lost as a result.