Vinícius Júnior was in the middle of a World Cup press conference on Wednesday when an unexpected guest arrived at the podium.
A cat joined the Brazil star, causing him to burst into laughter in the middle of an answer, with the rest of the room joining in.
Then things turned a little weird.
Brazil’s press officer, more interested in an on-time and orderly press conference than adorable cat shenanigans, stepped in and simply manhandled the furry little friend.
Grabbing the cat with two hands, one by the scruff of the neck and one by the back, the press officer tossed the cat off the podium, drawing some gasps from the assembled media.
Follow every match: Live World Cup scores
Hearing the reaction to his cat toss, the press officer grew defensive and shrugged his shoulders as if to say, ‘wait, isn’t that what you’re supposed to do with cats?’
To be fair to him, the cat, as most often do, landed on its feet and appeared no worse for the wear.
To us, the greater sin of this whole ordeal was why he felt the need to dispose of the cat so quickly in the first place. Vinícius seemed perfectly happy to keep answering questions with the cat next to him. For its part, the cat seemed pretty comfortable with the whole situation and ready to continue relaxing on the podium as the forward fielded questions.
This whole situation clearly could have been handled better, but here is at least some photographic evidence that the little furball is doing fine after his swift removal.
