Idrissa Gueye missed anti-homophobia day PSG game
A gaggle combating homophobia in soccer has known as on the French league and Paris Saint-Germain to ask participant Idrissa Gueye for a proof after he missed a recreation final week amid reviews that he refused to play as a result of he didn’t need to put on a rainbow-colored quantity on the again of his jersey.
The Senegal midfielder traveled along with his teammates to Montpellier final weekend for Saturday’s French league recreation within the southern metropolis however didn’t play, with PSG coach Mauricio Pochettino citing “private causes” to justify his absence on the sector.
For the second consecutive season, skilled golf equipment within the nation had been invited to label their gamers’ shirts with coloured numbers utilizing the rainbow flag, the image of the LGBTQ motion.
In response to an individual with direct data of the incident, Gueye didn’t play as a result of he didn’t need to put on a rainbow-colored quantity on the again of his shirt. The individual spoke on situation of anonymity as a result of the participant has not but commented publicly on the incident.
French radio RMC first reported on the the reason why Gueye skipped the match.
The Rouge Direct group stated in a message posted on Twitter that PSG and the league shouldn’t exclude the potential for sanctioning Gueye.
“Homophobia just isn’t an opinion however against the law,” the group stated.
The case has grow to be a political problem in each Senegal and France.
Senegal’s President Macky Sall tweeted his help to Gueye, writing in French: “I help Idrissa Gana Gueye. His spiritual convictions have to be revered.”
The nation’s former prime minister Abdoul Mbaye additionally threw his help behind Gueye, saying the PSG participant “just isn’t homophobic. He doesn’t need his picture for use to advertise homosexuality. Depart him alone.”
Gay relationships are thought of against the law in Senegal and could be punished with one to 5 years in jail.
Valerie Pecresse, the conservative candidate within the French presidential election final month, joined the criticism of Gueye.
“The gamers of a soccer membership, and people of PSG specifically, are identification figures for our younger individuals,” she wrote on Twitter. “They’ve an obligation to set an instance. A refusal by Idrissa Gana Gueye to affix the combat towards homophobia couldn’t stay with out sanction!”
L’Equipe newspaper reported that Gueye had already missed the corresponding match final season when all groups wore shirts with the rainbow, citing a bout of gastroenteritis.
Homophobic chants, typically heard at French league matches, have been tolerated for a very long time by many membership officers, and soccer authorities have struggled to search out the suitable methods of tackling the difficulty. The French league, nonetheless, launched an motion plan three years in the past permitting spectators to report sexist, homophobic or racist incidents they witness.
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AP reporter Babacar Dione in Dakar, Senegal, contributed to this report.
