The photo on the front page of the newspaper in Australia.

No one had kind words for a man wearing a shirt with a vulgar message in Maltese, whose photo was plastered on the front page of an Australian newspaper when he was pinned to the ground by a bull.

The incident happened on Tuesday during the nine-day Pamplona street festival held, in honour of Saint Fermin, which attracts thousands of tourists.

The man, believed to be Maltese-Australian, was rescued from the bull by a man who pulled the animal by the horns.

People posting comments online or via the social media felt the man got what he deserved, adding he had shamed the Maltese by taking part in a “barbaric” event.

Carl Edgar Consiglio wrote: “I love it when the bull wins” and Julie Culley noted that karma was alive and well.

Although the man was not identified in the press reports on the incident, Chris Spiteri, who told Facebook commentators to “brighten up” and laugh it off, said the Maltese did not have a sense of humour.

I wish you twice what you wish on me

Mr Spiteri, who appears to be behind the printing of the T-shirt, said that, in 2012, hundreds of people were “begging to buy this shirt”.

Quentin Vella was said to be the man wearing the shirt.

On his Facebook page, which states he is from Melbourne but lives in Xewkija, Mr Spiteri said it was his cousin, Quentin Vella, who was wearing the T-shirt, of which only two were made.

The red shirt has the eight-pointed cross in white on the front and the word Malta printed on the collar on the back above a vulgar sentence.

A comment said the bull might have been offended by the message on the shirt and the grammatically incorrect phrase soon saw the generation of memes using home-grown comical expressions.

Swag.com.mt came up with suggestions for T-shirts “to be worn abroad that can spread the Malta flavour message even wider.” These include “Hawn tad-Downuts”, which is often blared out on loudspeakers at the height of the siesta, “I have potato blood in my veins” – a memorable quote in a video about the exportation of local potatoes, and “I wish you twice what you wish on me”, which usually features on cars.

The bull drew widespread sympathy as the international media reported on the festival and an American, who co-wrote a book called How to Survive the Running of the Bulls, was badly gored in his right thigh.

A Spanish man was also admitted to hospital after he was gored in the chest.

The festival consists of hundreds of people running in front of six bulls along Pamplona’s streets and then into the bullring where the animals are killed. Since 1925, 15 people have died during the event and more than 200 are injured every year.