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L.A. Galaxy Forward Aleksandar Katai Released For Wife’s Social Media Mocking Of George Floyd Protests

Bruce Haring
·2-min read

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Aleksandar Katai, a 29-year-old midfielder from Serbia, was released by the L.A. Galaxy on Friday after his wife posted social media messages earlier this week mocking George Floyd protesters.

“We believe strongly that we’re a club that represents our staff, represents our players, represents our fans and our community,” team president Chris Klein said. “The decision, in that respect, was not a difficult one. We have to hold to those values. This is not a soccer decision.”

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Katai did not comment. Klein described him in one account as “very understanding through this process.”

Katai’s wife, Tea Katai, who is also from Serbia, posted messages and later took them down when they stirred outrage.

One post showed a screenshot of two New York Police officers driving through a crowd of demonstrators. Tea Katai captioned it in Serbian, but the translation was “kill the s—s!”

Another showed a man with boxes of Nike shoes. She captioned that, “Black Nikes Matter.”

The Associated Press also reported that Tea Katai posted another Serbian entry describing protesters as “disgusting cattle.”

Online and at a protest Thursday at L.A. Galaxy offices, fans called for Aleksandar Katai’s release.

The Galaxy condemned the posts and Katai posted a four-paragraph apology on Instagram, calling his wife’s posts “unacceptable.”

“These views are not ones that I share and are not tolerated in my family.”

 

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