A team fighting homophobia in soccer has called on the French league and Paris Saint-Germain to ask player Idrissa Guevara for an explanation after she reportedly refused to play after missing a game last week because she did not want to wear rainbow-colored clothing. Number on the back of his jersey.
The Senegal midfielder traveled to Montpellier with his teammates to play in the French League in the southern city last weekend but did not play, with PSG coach Mauricio Pochettino citing “personal reasons” to justify his absence on the field.
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For the second season in a row, professional clubs across the country were invited to label their players with colored numbers on their shirts, using the rainbow flag, a symbol of the LGBTQ movement.
According to a man with direct knowledge of the incident, Gay could not play because he did not want to wear a rainbow-colored number on the back of his shirt. The man spoke on condition of anonymity because the player has not yet commented publicly on the incident.
French radio RMC was the first to report why Guy missed the match.
The Rouge Direct Group said in a message posted on Twitter that the possibility of PSG and the league approving Guevara should not be ruled out.
“Homophobia is not an opinion but a crime,” the group said.
The case has become a political issue in both Senegal and France.
Senegalese President Macky Sall tweeted in support of Guevara, writing in French: “I support Idrissa Gana Guevara. His religious beliefs must be respected. “
The country’s former prime minister, Abdel Mbaye, also backed Guy, saying the PSG player was “not gay. He did not want his image to be used to promote homosexuality. Leave him alone.”
In Senegal, homosexuality is considered a crime and carries a maximum sentence of one to five years.
Conservative candidate Valerie Pecres joined the criticism of Guy in the French presidential election last month.
“Players from a soccer club, and especially PSG players, are familiar figures for our youth,” he wrote on Twitter. “They have to set an example. Homophobia cannot exist without approval! “
The L’Equipe newspaper reported that Gueye had already missed the corresponding match last season when all teams wore shirts with rainbows, citing gastroenteritis.
The homophobic mantra, often heard in French league matches, has long been tolerated by many club officials and soccer authorities have struggled to find a suitable way to deal with the problem. The French league, however, launched an action plan three years ago to allow viewers to report sexual, homosexual or racist incidents they witnessed.
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