Antoine Griezmann: Konami cancel ambassadorial contract with Barcelona star | OneFootball

It has been a tricky few days for Barcelona and France star, Antoine Griezmann.

After he was part of the French side that crashed out of Euro 2020 at the hands of Switzerland, the attacker has since become embroiled in a racism storm after a video that has emerged online.

In the video, along with international team mate Ousmane Dembele, Griezmann seems to be making fun of a group of Japanese technicians working on a fault in his hotel room.

The pair were on a pre-season tour with Barcelona in Japan in 2019 when the incident occurred meaning the Spanish club have also been caught up in the saga.

Both men moved quickly to address the video, with Dembele first taking to Instagram followed by Griezmann posting to Twitter.

“It all took place in Japan. It could’ve taken place anywhere on the planet and I would’ve used the same expression,” Dembele wrote on Instagram on Monday.

“I was therefore not targeting any community. I just happened to use this type of expression with my friends regardless of their origins.

“This video has since been made public.

"I appreciate therefore that it could’ve hurt the people present in these images. Because of this, I would like to sincerely apologize to them.”

Griezmann said he was “completely against all forms of discrimination”.

“For the past few days, certain people have wanted to paint me as someone that I am not,” he said on Twitter.

“I firmly refute the accusations made against me and I’m sorry if I have offended any of my Japanese friends.”

However, the bad news continues to roll in for Griezmann as, just 48 hours after the video was made public, Japanese video game giants Konami have moved to end their relationship with the French star, per a report in Marca.

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Griezmann had only last month signed a contract to take up an ambassadorial role with Konami, the makers of a number of global hits including Metal Gear Solid and Pro Evolution Soccer.

Konami will ask Barcelona to explain the details of the case, as well as their future actions.

It really is turning into a summer to forget for Griezmann.