The LA Galaxy announced early on Friday that they have released midfielder Aleksandar Katai after since-deleted posts on Social Media by Katai’s wife revealed racist and inflammatory material.
The move comes after Aleksandar Katai’s wife, Tea, mocked the protests occurring across the country regarding the death of Geroge Floyd, who died last week in Minneapolis while in police custody. In one of the posts, police cruisers are shown driving through protesters during a demonstration in New York City with a caption in Serbian that read “Kill the S*****s. Another post showed a person with boxes of Nike shoes with a caption in English that read “Black Nikes Matter.” The Associated Press also reported that Tea Katai made another post typed in Serbian that compared the protesters to “disgusting cattle.”
The Galaxy reacted quickly, releasing a statement on Wednesday that said “”The LA Galaxy stands firmly against racism of any kind, including that which suggests violence or seeks to demean the efforts of those in pursuit of racial equality.” Aleksandar Katai also released his own statement on Instagram calling the posts”a mistake from my family” and took full responsibility. Katai also apologized “for the pain these posts have caused the LA Galaxy family and all allies in the fight against racism.” The Galaxy fans also took action, as a social media post showed four fans in front of the David Beckham statue at Dignity Health Sports Park with a banner that read “No Racists in Our Club” and Katai’s jersey number crossed out.
The Galaxy and Katai met on Thursday and shortly after, the two sides agreed to part ways.
The move comes after Aleksandar Katai’s wife, Tea, mocked the protests occurring across the country regarding the death of Geroge Floyd, who died last week in Minneapolis while in police custody. In one of the posts, police cruisers are shown driving through protesters during a demonstration in New York City with a caption in Serbian that read “Kill the S*****s. Another post showed a person with boxes of Nike shoes with a caption in English that read “Black Nikes Matter.” The Associated Press also reported that Tea Katai made another post typed in Serbian that compared the protesters to “disgusting cattle.”
The Galaxy reacted quickly, releasing a statement on Wednesday that said “”The LA Galaxy stands firmly against racism of any kind, including that which suggests violence or seeks to demean the efforts of those in pursuit of racial equality.” Aleksandar Katai also released his own statement on Instagram calling the posts”a mistake from my family” and took full responsibility. Katai also apologized “for the pain these posts have caused the LA Galaxy family and all allies in the fight against racism.” The Galaxy fans also took action, as a social media post showed four fans in front of the David Beckham statue at Dignity Health Sports Park with a banner that read “No Racists in Our Club” and Katai’s jersey number crossed out.
The Galaxy and Katai met on Thursday and shortly after, the two sides agreed to part ways.
