An American team put an end to its relationship with one of the players, due to a racist comment from his wife on the events in the country since the killing of the American citizen of African descent, George Floyd.
Los Angeles Galaxy, the NBA's rival, has decided to end the contract with Serbian midfielder Alexander Katay after his wife published a "series of racist comments calling for social violence."
Media reported that Tia Katai described the protesters under the slogan "The lives of blacks are important" via Instagram as "disgusting cattle", and called for the use of violence against them, before deleting these posts.
Protests erupted in various US cities against police brutality and racism, following the death of George Floyd after a police officer pressed his knee to his neck last month.
Los Angeles released a short statement announcing that a "consensual agreement" had been reached with Katai to end their association, after "a strong condemnation" of what his wife had published.
A statement from the LA Galaxy on Tea Katai. pic.twitter.com/tfGDMUomIo
- LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) June 4, 2020
"The Los Angeles Galaxy supports people of color, especially the black community, in demonstrations and the struggle against racism, inequality, intolerance and violence," the club said.
Katai, 29, a former Chicago Fire player who contracted the Los Angeles Galaxy last December, apologized for his wife's comments on social media.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Aleksandar Katai (@aleksandarkatai) on Jun 3, 2020 at 7:59 pm PDT
The Serb player pledged to learn from this error, and expressed support for African Americans in their battle for social justice.