Barcelona forward Antoine Griezmann has offered his support to team-mate Ansu Fati after the 17-year-old was the subject of a racist slur in the match report of the team’s 5-1 win over Fernandes.
Fati scored one goal and assisted another in Wednesday’s victory, after which a report by Spanish newspaper ABC praised the youngster’s performance in highly inappropriate and disturbing language.
In the article, Fati’s speed is compared to that of a ‘black street vendor’, running from the police with a ‘jungle stampede’.
Yesterday’s ABC newspaper match report on the Barca game included “The tear reminds me of those black shopkeepers you used to see running down the Paseo de Gracia whenever the authorities came. The city. A jungle-like stampede in the middle.” Suffering from racism
— Phil Kitromilides (@PhilKitro) October 21, 2020
Unsurprisingly, the article has been widely condemned online, with Griezmann pleading for Fati’s respect on Twitter.
“Ansu is an extraordinary man who deserves respect as much as any human being,” the Frenchman wrote. “No to racism and no to bad education.”
The author of the initial article, ABC’s Salvador Sostres, posted an apology Thursday morning, insisting it was a misunderstanding and merely a poor attempt at praise.
Ansu is an extraordinary boy who deserves respect like any other human being. No to racism and misogyny. pic.twitter.com/LZuJOzoTMG
— Antoine Griezmann (@AntoGriezmann) October 21, 2020
Sostres said, “In Barca’s report of the match against Ferencváros, in their desire to appreciate the beauty of Tear’s movements, and his class as a very young player, some comments were treated as racist insults. taken on,” said the Sostress.
“There is nothing further from my intention, nor from my opinion, which is very favorable to the player as I have expressed in all my reports since his debut.
“I’m very sorry for the misunderstanding and I apologize to anyone who was hurt.”
As noted by Cadena SER’s Sique Rodríguez, Barcelona are planning to take legal action against Sostres over his comments about Fati, with lawyers set to launch proceedings on Thursday.
The comments brought an otherwise impressive evening for Barcelona to a disappointing end. The 5-1 win ensured Barcelona ended a run of two games without a victory and boosted morale ahead of Saturday’s meeting with Real Madrid.
Ronald Koeman’s side have played a game less than their rivals and can move level on ten points with Real if they win on Saturday.
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