With footballers themselves at the forefront of the movement to kick racism out of football, it beggars belief that some would be caught on camera doing just that.
Barcelona stars, Ousmane Dembele and Antoine Griezmann, have received widespread condemnation – rightly so – after a video emerged where they were seen to be mocking Asian workers on the club’s 2019 tour of Japan.
MORE: Arsenal to sell four more?
It was a tour organised by club sponsors, Rakuten, who have come out and demanded action from the club.
Griezmann is already seeing just how damaging this situation could become, with The Sun reporting that Konami, who had hired him last month as a brand ambassador for Yu-Gi-Oh!, have cancelled the contract in light of his actions.
Konami also want answers from Barcelona, who are part of their eFootball PES franchise, and this will include understanding what future action the club will take.
It’s almost certain that other brands connected with the World Cup winning pair will follow suit.