Barcelona in crisis again as major club sponsor slams unacceptable racist comments from Dembele and Griezmann

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Barcelona have developed an incredible habit recently of shooting themselves in the foot from a PR point of view.

Their financial issues are well documented, with current president, Joan Laporta, and his board seeking to unravel, and then correct, the damage caused by the previous Josep Maria Bartomeu administration.

To say that the club are in dire straits would be a gross understatement, as the club can’t even register their new signings until certain financial obligations have been met.

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Given everything that’s happening, the last thing the club needed to have to deal with was a scandal, but thanks to Ousmane Dembele and Antoine Griezmann, that’s exactly the situation they find themselves in.

An old video of the French World Cup winners making racist comments towards some Asian workers has surfaced and, as might be expected, it has caused widespread anger.

Dembele and Griezmann could be in hot water after historic racist comments found their way into the public domain

Barcelona as an institution have yet to make any public comment, but Hiroshi Mikitani, president of their major sponsor, Rakuten, is none too happy.

“As a club sponsor and organiser of this tour, I’m very sorry that the Barcelona players have made discriminatory comments,” he was quoted as saying by AS, cited by Football Espana.

“As Rakuten have endorsed Barcelona’s philosophy and sponsored the club, such statements are unacceptable under any circumstance and will be formally protested to the club.”

Given how much the club rely on their ‘Mes que un club’ strap line, they’d do well to, somehow, minimise the damage. Even if it means having to move the players on.

More Stories Antoine Griezmann Joan Laporta Josep Maria Bartomeu Ousmane Dembele