The refusal of several footballers to participate in a campaign against homophobia in the French league highlighted the discrimination against this group in the countrywhere, according to a report, attacks against LGBT+ people increased.
Players refuse to display the LGBT flag
On the occasion of the International Day against Homophobia, which is celebrated on May 17, the Professional Football League (LFP) hosted this annual campaign over the weekend with the motto: “Homosexuals or heterosexuals, we all wear the same shirt”.
But several players refused to wear the elastic with the rainbow colors, so the Minister of Sports, Amélie Oudéa-Castera, urged their clubs to “adopt sanctions”, especially when the campaign defends a “simple message of non-discrimination“.
(We recommend: The unknown story behind homophobia in soccer).
Nantes (Ligue 1, first division) thus sanctioned Egyptian footballer Mostafa Mohamed “financially but not sportingly” and the money from the sanction, which the club did not specify, “will go to the SOS Homophobie association (…) to fight against this scourge”. However, the team did not suspend the striker, author of eight goals this season, when he is risking his permanence in the next rounds in the highest category of French football.
One year after the refusal of the Senegalese Idrissa Gana Gueye, then a Paris Saint-Germain player, this weekend Moroccan Zakaria Aboukhlal from Toulouse (Ligue 1) and Senegalese Donatien Gomis from Guingamp (Ligue 2) did not want to participate either.
(You can also read: Terrible aggression! He kicked him to the ground when he cried in pain).
Mohamed, a Muslim, justified on Sunday night his decision not to participate in his “roots”, “culture” and “convictions”, asked for respect for his “personal beliefs” and assured “respect all differences”.
In an open letter to these footballers, the National Ethics Council (CNE) of the French Football Federation on Monday considered their decision a “mistake” and called on them to “put aside some of their personal convictions.” “Even if they are not aware of it, become complicit in homophobic behaviors“, lamented the CNE. The Council, which does not have the capacity to sanction, nevertheless announced that it will not take the case to the disciplinary committee.
Donatien Gomis, a Ligue 2 player, decided to unsubscribe this day because the numbers would have the color of the rainbow in support of the LGBT community pic.twitter.com/EM68ZKvt0C
– Analysts (@SomosAnalistas_) May 13, 2023
Homophobia in football
The Brest coach, Eric Roy, intensified the controversy by questioning the suitability of celebrating this campaign in the last days of the championship, since there are clubs that are risking permanence and “each one is free to choose their opinions.”
“Homophobia is a crime”the government spokesman, Olivier Véran, responded, recalling that “many young people still suffer from it in their day-to-day lives and that all means are good to help normalize what is already normal.”
(You can also read: “Piqué shamed Shakira’s children”: unexpected reaction from the ex-soccer player).
SOS Homophobie warned on Tuesday that hatred against LGBT+ people remains “anchored” in society in France ten years after equal marriage was approved and that physical attacks increased by 28% between 2021 and 2022 — one every two days — .
Regarding sport, its annual report indicates a slight increase in cases of discrimination (18 in 2022), especially in football, and denounces the “hostility” of the sports bodies towards the victims or their “great indulgence” with the perpetrators.
The association highlights the last World Cup in Qatar, when Fifa threatened with sanctions eight European federations that wanted to wear the multicolored ‘One Love’ bracelet, in support of the rights of LGBT+ people.
The campaign in France “is ineffective”, because despite the fact that it has been going on for years, the “manifestations of homophobia have never been so serious and important”, Julien Pontes, from the Rouge Direct association (Roja Directa), told the media ‘franceinfo’ ).
“The LFP and the clubs must be very clear about what it means not to wear this elastic [arcoíris]. Why doesn’t the LFP sanction homophobia?”Pontes added.
🌈 Le gros coup de gueule d’Eric Roy contre la programming de la journée de lutte contre l’homophobie : “Non ce n’est pas équitable!” pic.twitter.com/vEOgl2Kgz8
— RMC Sport (@RMCsport) May 14, 2023
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