Serbian international soccer player Aleksander Katai was released from MLS side LA Galaxy following offensive comments his wife Tea Katai posted on social media.
Katai’s wife reportedly posted on her Instagram story comments that mock the Black Lives Matter movement and allegedly encouraged violence against crowds of protesters against the wrongful death of George Floyd with a police officer filmed stepping on his neck.
The posts were later deleted, with one featuring an alleged looter holding boxes of Nike shoes, and tagged as a comment “Black Nike Matters.” Another post featured a screenshot from a video showing NYPD cops driving their police vehicle through protester crowds, with a caption that translates from Serbian to “Kill the s****!”. There are also reports of Tea Katai referring in another post to protesters in Serbian as “disgusting cattle.”
The LA Galaxy were quick to handle the situation and released the following statement hours after the posts went live: “Earlier today, the LA Galaxy were made aware of a series of racist and violent social media posts by Tea Katain, the wife of LA Galaxy midfielder Aleksander Katai. The LA Galaxy strongly condemned the social posts and requested their immediate removal.” the club added: “The LA Galaxy stand firmly against racism of any kind, including that which suggests violence or seeks to demean the efforts of those in pursuit of racial equality.”
Katai came out with a statement on his Instagram account, shaking off his wife’s posts: “These views are not ones that I share and no tolerated in my family,” Katai said. “I will ensure my family and I take the necessary actions to learn, understand, listen and support the black community.” Apologizing for his wife’s doings, he added: “I am sorry for the pain these posts have caused the LA Galaxy family and all allies in the fight against racism.”
However this was too little, too late for the Serbian soccer player, and after a meeting with the player on Thursday, the club decided to let him go, and on Friday released a statement saying that both parties “mutually agreed to part ways.”
The 29-year-old midfielder joined LA Galaxy in December of last year after two previous Major League Soccer seasons with MLS Eastern Conference Chicago Fire. He made nine appearances with Serbia’s national team, and played in Greece and Spain leagues. Katai made two appearances for the Galaxy this season before the league went into training moratorium due to the coronavirus pandemic.
