Before Brazil’s quarterfinal World Cup match against Croatia, Vinicius Jr. was speaking to the media.
After the feline interrupted Vinicius Jr.’s press conference on Wednesday in Qatar, the press representative for Brazil ruthlessly picked up the cat and threw it off the table.
The Real Madrid winger, who scored in the Selecao’s 4-1 last-round thrashing of South Korea, was on press duty to preview Brazil’s quarterfinal matchup with Croatia on Friday.
Unexpectedly, a stray cat appeared to be sitting on the top table next to Vinicius Jr., interrupting the press conference strangely.
However, the Brazilian media representative appeared to be eager to get rid of the animal as he cruelly picked it up by pinching its skin before hurling it to the ground in front of the table.
Journalists in the room can be heard gasping, appearing shocked at how the cat was treated harshly.
The media officer then exhibits confusion in response to the outburst, and even Vinicius Jr. appears startled by what he just saw.
The media chief then defends his actions, and Vinicius laughs and smiles awkwardly.
The 22-year-old paused mid-sentence during one of his remarks as the incident happened, but he was unable to see where to look as the cat was taken away from his table.
Since then, pictures of the cat chilling on the media center floor after entering the building have surfaced.
The viral video has angered World Cup fans on social media, with the majority of them believing the cat was cruelly handled.
Kurt Zouma, a defender for West Ham, pleaded guilty to kicking and slapping a cat earlier this year and was sentenced to 180 hours of community service and a five-year ban from owning cats.
Despite his disgusting antics, Zouma was not suspended from play by West Ham, who instead fined him two weeks’ wages.
The fact that England made friends with a stray cat named Dave at their team headquarters in Al Wakrah suggests that cats are popular in Doha.
Following the cat’s morning photo with John Stones and Kalvin Phillips, Dave has received a lot of attention on Kyle Walker’s social media page.
