Barcelona’s Ousmane Dembele ‘apologises’ for video abusing Japanese hotel workers

France and Barcelona winger confirms clip was shot in Japan in 2019 but denies he was ‘aiming at any community’

‘It could have happened anywhere on the planet, I would have used the same expressions,’ star writes as he offers ‘sincere apologies’

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Barcelona's Ousmane Dembele reacts during the 2019-20 Uefa Champions League group stage match against former club Borussia Dortmund at the Camp Nou Stadium in November 2019. Photo: DPA

Published: 9:23pm, 5 Jul 2021Updated: 10:08pm, 5 Jul 2021

Barcelona and France winger Ousmane Dembele has issued an apology over a video in which he appeared to racially abuse Asian hotel workers after it went public last week, while his teammate and co-star Antoine Griezmann has also issued a statement.

Dembele, who was playing for France at Euro 2020 before they were knocked out by Switzerland, issued a statement via an Instagram Story, the platform’s self-deleting videos.

“Hello everyone,” Dembele wrote in French, “lately, a private video from 2019 circulated on the social networks.”

The 24-year-old confirmed that the scenes were shot in Japan, where the Spanish giants last toured that year. Barcelona’s shirt sponsor Rakuten and video game partner Konami are both based in Japan.

However, Dembele said that what was shown in the video, which has seen him accused of both racism and classism, could have happened anywhere.

“The scene happens in Japan. It could have happened anywhere on the planet, I would have used the same expressions. Therefore I was not aiming at any community.