Griezmann loses video game sponsor in racism row

PARIS: Japanese video games firm Konami said on Wednesday it was dropping French striker Antoine Griezmann as a brand ambassador over a racism row involving the Barcelona striker and teammate Ousmane Dembele.

“Previously we had announced Antoine Griezmann as our Yu-gi-oh! contents ambassador, however in light of recent events we have decided to cancel the contract,” the firm said in a statement alluding to a manga gaming series.

“Konami Digital Entertainment believes, as is the philosophy of sports, that discrimination of any kind is unacceptable,” the company stressed, adding it would be asking Barcelona “as a club partner to explain the details of this case and its future actions.”

Dembele had to apologise earlier this week for making racist comments in a video circulating on social media.

Dembele, 24, offered his “sincere apologies” on Monday ater a 42-second clip, which he appeared to have made on Snapchat in 2019, was leaked and widely shared on the internet.

The clip shows Dembele, on Barca’s pre-season tour of Japan two years ago, talking to team-mate Griezmann as he waited for local technicians to connect a game console to a television in their hotel room. Dembele refers to “ugly faces” as the technicians work and appears to mock the Japanese language before asking: “are you advanced in your country or not?”

In a Wednesday statement, Barcelona said the club “deeply regret” how two of its players “displayed a lack of respect in their atitude towards several employees in the hotel in which they were staying.

“This atitude in no way coincides with the values that FC Barcelona represents and defends,” the statement continued, adding that “at FC Barcelona there is no place for racism or discrimination.”