Ansu Fati ‘deserves respect like any human being’ – Antoine Griezmann hits out at Spanish report

Antoine Griezmann called out racism targeted at team-mate Ansu Fati after Barcelona comfortably beat Hungarian side Ferencvaros 5-1 on Tuesday.

Tweeting a screenshot from Spanish outlet ABC, Griezmann highlighted that reporter Salvador Solstres likened the young player to “black street vendors”.

The report, which now has the paragraph in question removed, read “Ansu was close to scoring with a kick of a pure striker, perfectly turning his body. Ansu when running has something similar to a gazelle, he looks like a young and black street seller, the one you could see running in the Paseo de Gracia shouting 'water, water' when the policemen arrive.

"Postcards of a jungle in the heart of the city. Now it doesn't happen anymore because of Ada Colau (mayor of Barcelona) the delinquents are the policemen and not the street sellers, who don't need to run away quickly anymore. It is true that without tourists, their business goes down."

Griezmann called out the shocking comments.

"Ansu is an exceptional boy who deserves respect just like all other human beings. No to racism and no to bad manners,” he tweeted.

In 2018 Raheem Sterling posted a statement calling out the way the media reports black players in England, which he said “fuel racism and aggressive behaviour” on Instagram.