French and FC Barcelona player Antoine Griezmann is in hot water after an alleged case of racism went viral.

In response, Konami has cancelled its contract with Antoine Griezmann. The video in question depicts Griezmann and fellow teammate Ousmane Dembele mocking Asian technicians during the Barcelona tour of Japan in 2019.

The Snapchat video, which appears to show Griezmann as well as teammate Ousmane Dembele mocking Asian technicians during Barcelona’s tour of Japan in 2019, has sparked a vociferous backlash amid racism allegations.

You can see the video below, in which Dembele says to Griezmann:

“All these ugly faces, just so you can play PES, aren’t you ashamed?”

Dembele then seems to proceed to insult the Japanese language before asking:

“Guys, are you techonologically advanced in your country or not?”

Griezmann is just seen laughing at the whole situation.

According to Eurogamer, Konami has ditched Griezmann as its Yu-Gi-Oh! contents ambassador. They said in a statement:

“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.

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.”

Griezmann has since posted an apology on Twitter, saying he has “always been committed against any form of discrimination”. “I firmly refute the accusations made against me and I am sorry if I have offended my Japanese friends.”

Je me suis toujours engagé contre toute forme de discrimination. Depuis quelques jours certaines personnes veulent me faire passer pour l’homme que je ne suis pas. Je réfute avec fermeté les accusations qui me sont portées et je suis désolé si j’ai pu offenser mes amis japonais.

— Antoine Griezmann (@AntoGriezmann) July 5, 2021

In a statement, Barcelona said:

“FC Barcelona deeply regret the displeasure amongst Japanese and Asian fans and partners of our Club caused by a video that appeared a few days ago on social media in which two first team players (Ousmane Dembélé and Antoine Griezmann) displayed a lack of respect in their attitude towards several employees in the hotel in which they were staying.

This attitude in no way coincides with the values that FC Barcelona represents and defends.”

This will definitely affect the Spanish football club’s relationship with Konami moving forward, but it remains uncertain in what way, for now.