Footballer Who Knocked Ireland Out Of Euros ’16 Under Fire For “Racist” Costume

Antoine Griezmann, a French footballer who plays for Atletico Madrid, has come under fire for an offensive and racist photo he posted to Twitter earlier this evening that showed him dressed up in a 'blackface' NBA Basketballer costume.

The footballer is known in Ireland for breaking many a heart when he scored two goals against Ireland in the second round of the 2016 Euros, knocking the Irish team out of the running.

Griezmann posted the picture of himself dressed up as a player from a Harlem with the caption '80's Party' and his full body and face painted dark.

Within minutes of posting, people were calling out the footballer for his use of blackface, asking him to delete the tweet and apologise 

What is Antoine Griezmann thinking?

And is there nobody around him to tell him that is a very bad idea?

— John Bennett (@JohnBennettBBC) December 17, 2017

Despite the photo gaining traction, Antoine originally defended his costume - tweeting "Calm down my friends, I'm a fan of Harlem globetrotters and those good times... It's a tribute".

People couldn't believe he didn't see what he had done wrong. 

Worth taking a moment to consider Antoine Griezmann tweeted this mad, deeply offensive rubbish more than half an hour ago and hasn't deleted it. Yer wild eijit. https://t.co/tBsuTCTMi5

— Dom Farrell (@DomFarrell1986) December 17, 2017

After nearly two hours, Antoine deleted the photo and offered what appears to be his way of apology: "I agree that it was ill advised of me. If I hurt some people, excuse me."

Hmm. No excuse for this sort of carry on. 

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