In France, player who refused rainbow shirt is punished – 05/16/2023 – Sport

Two teams from France punished players who refused to participate in the International Day against Homophobia, last weekend, when athletes from the first and second divisions entered the field with uniforms that brought references to the rainbow flag, a global symbol of the fight for the rights of LGBTQIA+ people. In France, homophobia is a crime.

Toulouse, winner of the French Cup two weeks ago, and Nantes, runner-up in the same tournament, faced each other again last Sunday (14) with absences in their teams because of the initiative that aims to combat homophobia inside and outside the stadiums. fields.

At Toulouse, Moroccan Zakaria Aboukhlal, Dutchman of Serbian origin Said Hamulic and Malian Moussa Diarra were left out of the lineup for refusing to wear the rainbow kit. At Nantes, it was the Egyptian Mostafa Mohamed who failed to enter the field for the same reason.

Their refusal ended up stealing the spotlight from an annual campaign by the French Professional Football League that was widely supported in the matchday, when stars such as Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi took to the pitch in shirts decorated with large numerals emblazoned with the rainbow.

Judges, linesmen and coaches also participated with armbands in the colors of the LGBTQIA+ flag. And, before each match, players posed in front of banners with the message: “Homo or straight, we all wear the same shirt.”

Also on Sunday, Toulouse justified the selection because some athletes had expressed “their disagreement with the association of their image with the colors of the rainbow that represent the LGBT movement”.

The club, however, rushed to take off its image from the choice of some of its athletes. By highlighting that its professional team is made up of players from “18 nationalities and 5 continents”, as an indication that “openness to the world is an integral part of Toulouse’s DNA”.

“Our players are chosen for their human qualities, regardless of their beliefs or convictions,” said the note, which reiterated the team’s commitment “to the fight against homophobia and all forms of discrimination.”

Also on Sunday, Aboukhlal published a note on a social network to explain his decision.

“First of all, I want to emphasize that I have the highest regard for every individual, regardless of their personal preferences, gender, religion or background,” he wrote on Twitter.

“Respect is a value I hold in high regard. It extends to others, but it also includes respect for my own personal beliefs. Therefore, I don’t think I’m the most appropriate person to participate in this campaign”, he explained, before express the wish that his “decision be respected, as well as [seu] I want everyone to be treated with respect.”

It was not enough. The Minister of Sport and the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, declared that the refusal of certain players to participate in the movement against homophobia had been “deeply regrettable”.

“It’s a simple message of non-discrimination. What are we talking about?”, she complained during an interview with France 3, before asking clubs to assume their responsibilities and sanction the players involved.

On Monday (15), Nantes announced that Mohamed would be subject to a “financial, but not sporting” sanction and that the amount in question, which was not revealed, would be donated to the association “SOS Homofobia”.

Toulouse, on the other hand, only took measures this Tuesday (16th), and only against Aboukhlal, forced by accusations reported the day before that the player would have made a misogynistic comment to the secretary of Sports of the City of Toulouse, Laurence Arribagé, during the celebration ceremony of the French Cup title.

At the time, according to RMC Sport radio, Arribagé would have scolded Aboukhlal, who would be speaking too loudly during official speeches, to which the player would have replied: “In my country, women don’t talk like that to men”.

The player is from Morocco, a country whose national team was in the semifinals of the World Cup and whose celebrations by fans in French territory throughout the tournament led to conflicts with security forces, sowing xenophobic speeches in France.

“In light of the serious allegations published by RMC Sport against Toulouse Football Club player Zakaria Aboukhlal, the club announces that its player will train away from the professional group until further notice, pending the results of an internal investigation. another comment pending the completion of the investigation,” the TFC said in a statement on Tuesday.

The International Day against Homophobia is an annual campaign that has been running for five years and has been the subject of controversy in other years, but not with the current repercussions.

Former player Yoann Lemaire, president of the Foot Ensemble Association, and the first French player to publicly assume his homosexuality, in 2014, celebrated the outcome of the campaign. At the same time, he acknowledged to Le Monde that France’s Professional Football League had “underestimated the problem”.

“We expected a certain number of players not to want to play in that shirt, but we’ve found quite a few this year.”