LA Galaxy Cut Aleksandar Katai After Wife's Racist Social Media Posts

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – The Los Angeles Galaxy on Friday released starting midfielder Alexander Katai after his wife posted racist messages to social media directed at George Floyd protesters.

In a one-line statement, the Galaxy announced that the team had "agreed to part ways" with Katai.

Earlier in the week, Tea Katai, the wife of the 29-year-old Serbian midfielder, issued several racist and profanity-laced Instagram posts calling for violence against protesters.

In one of the most egregious posts, Tea Katai posted a picture of a looter holding a shoe box with the caption "Black Nikes Matter."

The posts have since been deleted.

The Galaxy Wednesday night issued a statement denouncing her statements. Katai himself also posted an apology on his Instagram page in which he called his wife's comments "unacceptable" and added that her "views are not ones I share and are not tolerated in my family."

The Galaxy signed Katai in December after he spent two seasons with the Chicago Fire. He only played in two games for the Galaxy before the season was put on hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Prior to that, he spent three seasons playing for Alavés in Spain's La Liga and three seasons with Serbia's Red Star Belgrade.