Dugarry's Apology For Calling Messi Half Autistic

Christophe Dugarry (Twitter @barcacenter)

JAKARTA - Former Barcelona player, Christophe Dugarry, made scathing comments against Antoine Griezmann and Lionel Messi. Especially for Messi, Dugarry even said inappropriate words because he offended many people. What is that?

Since setting foot at Camp Nou last summer, Griezmann has been surrounded by controversy due to the lack of playing minutes he has received from coach Quique Setien. Especially in the last four matchdays he has often started matches from the bench.

Responding to the three minutes played by Griezmann against Atletico Madrid on Tuesday, Dugarry could not help but pour gasoline into the already blazing fire.

"What is he afraid of?" Dugarry said to RMC Sport, referring to Griezmann. "A man (Messi) who is 1.50 meters tall and half autistic?"

"The only thing he has to do is step up the game."

Griezmann's relationship with Messi on the pitch has been the subject of great discussion this season.

"People said for a year that he had a problem with Messi," continued Dugarry.

"He had to slap himself in the face. Yes, maybe Messi could have given him more passes, but it really doesn't surprise me (if he doesn't want to give it).

"Griezmann often loses the ball. He plays with fear. Griezmann has to talk to Messi to solve the problem."

Dugarry also attacked Quique Setien, who had come under pressure at Camp Nou.

"Setien is a good man, but he is not good enough (to coach Barca). He doesn't know who to play," said Dugarry.

"He replaced Sergio Busquets with Ansu Fati in the 85th minute and put Griezmann in the 90th minute. That (Setien) did not do against Griezmann. It was because he did not know how to get the team to play. He was beyond his means."

However, some time after issuing scathing comments against Messi, especially regarding the words of autism, Dugarry apologized to all those who were hurt via Twitter.

Aucun moment, je n'ai voulu stigmatiser ni moquer des personnes souffrant de troubles autistiques, ce n'était when mon intention. Je présente mes excuses aux personnes que j'ai pu heurter et je l'expliquerai ce soir à 18h dans Team DugaChristophe

- Team Duga (@TeamDugaRMC) July 2, 2020

"There isn't a time when I want to stigmatize or laugh at a person with autism disorder," he said.

"That's not what I meant. I apologize to anyone I hurt."