An animal rights organisation has urged FIFA to make Brazil pay a heavy fine, after their media officer treated a cat cruelly during a press conference in Qatar.
The incident, which happened before Brazil lost to Croatia on penalty in a quarter-final clash, saw a cat walk across the table where Junior Vinicius was speaking and the media officer Rodrigues was seen grabbing the animal by the fur and dropping it on the floor and it caused a social media storm. In Qatar, Cats are considered to be sacred animals and they are often seen wandering around.
Brazil were expected by many to go all the way in Qatar due to their exciting mix of youth and experience. Things started well with two wins to kick off the group stages but the first red flags started to appear when Cameroon beat them 1-0 in their Group G finale.
A resounding win over South Korea set up a crunch quarter-final clash with Croatia, who reached the final in Russia four years ago. Despite a fine extra-time goal from Neymar, Tite’s side couldn’t close out the show and Bruno Petkovic’s equaliser preceded a penalty shootout that was lost by the South American outfit.