Barcelona apologise over Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele Japan videos
- Players ‘displayed a lack of respect in their attitude towards several employees in the hotel in which they were staying’
- Videos filmed during tenure of previous board, statement says, but they reserve right to take internal action against stars
FC Barcelona have broken their silence over the controversial videos starring star players Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele from their 2019 Japan tour that have seen accusations of racism and classism laid against the footballers.
The Spanish giants have apologised to all fans and partners, including Japanese sponsors Rakuten and Konami. Both companies filed complaints with the club over the videos and the La Liga side may yet take action against the players.
“FC Barcelona deeply regret the displeasure among Japanese and Asian fans and partners of our Club caused by a video that appeared a few days ago on social media in which two first team players (Ousmane Dembélé and Antoine Griezmann) displayed a lack of respect in their attitude towards several employees in the hotel in which they were staying,” the club said.
“This attitude in no way coincides with the values that FC Barcelona represents and defends.”
The statement continued: “The values of the Club and its partners should be something that FC Barcelona protects, and this belief is present at all levels of the organisation, from the Board of Directors and executives to the players in the Club’s various sporting teams.
“The Club is committed to improving its education on questions of race, discrimination and diversity. At FC Barcelona there is no place for racism or discrimination.”
The statement noted that the videos were filmed under the tenure of a previous board.
“FC Barcelona would like to apologise publicly to all the Club’s fans and partners who feel unhappy about this event from the summer of 2019, a time when the Club’s responsibilities fell to a Board of Directors and executive team previous to the current.
“The Board of Directors that today manage the Club are committed to making sure episodes of this nature do not repeat themselves.”
While the club note that both Griezmann and Dembele have apologised, they reserve the right to take internal action against their players over the matter. Neither player has yet reported back after playing for France at Euro 2020.
“The players have already shown their regret and have apologised to Japanese fans and partners, something that the Club values. Nevertheless, FC Barcelona reserve the right to take the internal measures that it considers appropriate.”
Griezmann was dropped as an ambassador by video games giant Konami.