Brazil press officer's 'brutal' treatment of cat at press conference has journalists gasping in shock

Brazil's press officer has come under fire for the way he reacted to a stray cat gatecrashing Vinicius Jr's press conference.

The Real Madrid forward was speaking to the media ahead of Friday afternoon's World Cup quarter-final clash between Brazil and Croatia when the animal strolled in to say hello.

After a few chuckles from Vini and the swarm of journalists in Doha, the unnamed official, who sat next to the 22-year-old forward, proceeded to manhandle the cat, grabbing it by the hair on its back.

Moments later and he picked it up before throwing it to the ground – a moment that left journalists gasping in shock. You can see the footage below.

Vinicius Jr didn't quite know how to react at first, and looked pretty shocked by the incident, throwing a few glances towards the press officer in question.

After a few awkward seconds, the Brazilian forward let out what looked like a forced laugh as the official attempted to explain his actions.

All we know is, the incident did not go down well on social media. In fact, animal rights organisation PETA responded to the clip.

They wrote: "What’s this guy’s problem? Next time he encounters a cat, he should smile & laugh like Brazil star @vinijr instead of being so rude & rough.

"We hope someone is looking after this sweet cat who is probably homeless—just like so many others."

Image credit: TNT Sports

Many fans criticised the press officer for his treatment towards the cat.

One said: "As someone who currently has their own cat sitting on them, I now hope Brazil lose just because of this bloke," while another commented: "How on earth did a cat make its way into a Brazil press conference? And did he really need to throw it like that?!"

A third wrote: "If Brazil lose this cat 100% put a curse on them."

Vinicius Jr went on to speak about the impact of Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti and Brazil boss Tite on his game after the bizarre cat incident.

"I talked with Ancelotti and he gave me a lot of advice to help me become a starter with Brazil," he said. "He gave me a lot of confidence. He was always tough with me when he needed to be. He is like a father to me.

"He is good not only with the technical aspects of the game, but also with how he deals with his players.

"I have been improving a lot and Ancelotti has helped me with that. He and Tite are very similar and they talk to each other a lot."

Image credit: Alamy

One of the World Cup favourites Brazil will meet Croatia at the Education Stadium on Friday.

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