Japanese video game company Konami have cancelled their contract with Antoine Griezmann. The player signed a deal with Konami only a month ago, but that has now been cancelled by the company.
The reason behind it is the surfacing of a video from 2018 or 19, which shows Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele ridiculing an Asian house keeping staff as they tried to fix the TV. They also allegedly passed racial remarks, which aggravated the issue.
A statement released by the company further stated their point: “Konami Digital Entertainment believes, as is the philosophy of sports, that discrimination of any kind is unacceptable.
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.”
Both the players have apologized for their actions. However, they have maintained that there was no racial abuse involved in the interaction.
Rakuten, the main shirt sponsors of Barcelona, are also disappointed by this incident and will demand an explanation from the club about the actions of their players. This could affect the sponsorship deal with the club in a time where they need all the financial support they can get. Konami also partnered with Barcelona for PES, and that deal could be affected by the incident as well.
Rumours about Griezmann’s future and a potential transfer have been doing the rounds for a long time now. The Frenchman has reportedly been offered to Chelsea, but nothing advanced has been talked about yet.
