Scoring hat tricks has not helped Brazilian star Paulinho from getting an earful from Chinese football authorities after photos of him promoting a betting company with a Japanese porn star surfaced in the internet.

Last week, CalvinAyre.com reported that the former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder has been left red-faced over his involvement in a gambling advertisement. The promotional photos showed Paulinho wearing a T-shirt bearing the logo of LeTou with Tsukasa Aoi, one of the biggest adult movie stars in Asia.

Sources familiar with the matter told CalvinAyre.com that the 28-year-old football player agreed to endorse LeTou, a betting company based in Southeast Asia that targets punters in China.

Gambling and pornography are banned in China, where Paulinho now plays for the Chinese Super League Club Guangzhou Evergrande. And Paulinho’s involvement in the LeTou advertisement was, of course, enough to raise the Chinese football authorities’ hackles.