Barcelona duo open up on racism allegations

Barcelona's French duo of Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele have issued an apology after a video surfaced online of the pair mocking an Asian hotel's staff.

The Barcelona forwards were seen making fun of Japanese hotel staff and laughing at them. Both Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele took to social media to apologize for the same.

Griezmann took to Twitter to claim he was not one to discriminate against other sections of society and offered an apology. The tweet read:

“I have always been completely against all forms of discrimination. For the past few days, certain people have wanted to paint me as someone that I am not. I firmly refute the accusations made against me and I’m sorry if I have offended any of 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

Barcelona winger Ousmane Dembele took to Instagram to offer his side of the story. In his Instagram story, Dembele said:

"I was therefore not targetting 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 apologise to them."

Despite the serious allegations against the duo, FC Barcelona are yet to comment on the issue.

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Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele face uncertainty over their Barcelona future

Apart from racist allegations, both Ousmane Dembele and Antoine Griezmann are facing uncertain futures at Barcelona. Due to their below-par form and high wages, Barcelona are looking to offload the pair in order to free up some wage budget.

Due to the club's current financial situation, Barcelona have been forced to sell some of their fringe players in the ongoing transfer window. Apart from Griezmann and Dembele, the likes of Neto, Samuel Umtiti and Philippe Coutinho are also on the cusp of leaving Barcelona.

Ousmane Dembele and Antoine Griezmann collectively cost Barcelona a staggering €255 million. In return, the pair have failed to live up to their high expectations, forcing Blaugrana into signing Memphis Depay and Sergio Aguero on free transfers.

❗If Barcelona get rid of Umtiti, Pjanić, Coutinho, Neto, Aleñá and Braithwaite it still may not be enough to renew Lionel Messi's contract under La Liga's FFP rules.• The solution would be to transfer out Griezmann and Sergi Roberto.#FCB 🚫Via (🟡): @mundodeportivo pic.twitter.com/5Vr0r7Cfd3

— Barça Buzz (@Barca_Buzz) July 6, 2021