Racism has no place anywhere, but a scandal with Barcelona’s Antoine Griezmann created some hurt feelings. The 2020 Euros has everyone on edge, but that is no excuse for racism. However, it’s being said that this footage of Griezmann’s racism scandal came from an earlier time, such as the pre-season Asia tour. Since Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele’s racist video got leaked online, both players apologized, but Konami isn’t suffering this kind of action from an ambassador. With that in mind, Konami immediately dropped Griezmann as a Yu-Gi-Oh content ambassador. This could harm Barcelona’s esports endeavors as well, thanks to the eFootball PES franchise is also owned by Konami.

This whole affair is shameful, but Griezmann was only made a Yu-Gi-Oh ambassador about two weeks ago. You can see the video here, where Griezmann and Dembele were caught in this racism scandal. The two were mocking their tech support in the video, who were Asian—mocking their looks, language, and “technological advance.” 

All of these things are just dreadful. Griezmann’s apology was as follows on Twitter (translated). “I have always been committed against any form of discrimination. For the past few days, some people have wanted to pass me off as the man I am not. I firmly refute the accusations made against me and I am sorry if I could offend my Japanese friends.”

While Dembele made the remarks, Griezmann chose to laugh along instead of condemning it. That might not feel like racism, but it leads towards open hatred. Normalizing things like saying “ching chong” to Asians lead to further discrimination. 

Konami made the following statement about the event. “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. This led to the ramifications of Konami removing him as a Yu-Gi-Oh ambassador. With regard to our eFootball PES franchise, we will be requesting FC Barcelona as a club partner to explain the details of this case and its future actions.”

Could this harm Barcelona’s future in esports? It absolutely could. But if Barcelona takes a stand and makes it right, it could be smoothed over. As of this writing, Barcelona has yet to make a statement about the event, but we will update you if one comes to light. Right now, it’s just disappointing that such a thing would occur. Hopefully, Griezmann learns from this and grows in the future.