A handful of footballers refused to wear, on Saturday May 13 and Sunday May 14, their team’s jersey with the rainbow flocking instituted by the Professional Football League on the occasion of the weekend of the fight against homophobia in soccer. In the clubs of Toulouse, Nantes or Guingamp, some have decided not to tread the lawns rather than play with this symbolic jersey.
If the vast majority of Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 players wore the jersey during the 35e day of the championship, these isolated cases taint the day of mobilization set up by the League. On Monday May 15, the National Ethics Council (CNE) of the French Football Federation (FFF) reacted in an open letter addressed to professional players, that The world was able to consult.
The CNE “will not seize the disciplinary committee”
The FFF’s advisory body affirms its ” regret “ death “Behaviours of the few players who refused to wear the jersey for this championship day”. However, the CNE “will not seize the disciplinary committee” of the governing body of French football. In this open letter, the CNE points out that in “Excluding themselves from a national initiative to fight against homophobia, these players must realize that they are making people think that certain sexual orientations are less acceptable than others. In doing so,
even if they are not aware of it, they are complicit in homophobic behavior”.
“We must all feel concerned by all forms of discrimination, and not only those which concern us. To refuse to fight against discrimination that affects others is to risk endorsing the discrimination to which one may be subjected oneself.continues the CNE, which finally underlines that “Footballers are seen by many young people as sources of inspiration and role models. Their behavior is observed and then copied. Footballers know this and must act accordingly”.
FC Nantes striker Mostafa Mohamed is one of the players who refused to wear the rainbow flocked jersey on Sunday. “Given my roots, my culture, the importance of my convictions and beliefs, it was not possible for me to participate in this campaign”, justified the Egyptian striker in a message posted on his Twitter account. According West Francethe 25-year-old – on loan to FC Nantes from Turkish club Galatasaray – will receive a financial sanction, but will not be “not sanctioned sportingly” during the last three days of the French championship.
Interviewed on Sunday by The TeamJulien Pontes, spokesperson for the collective Rouge direct, which fights against homophobia on sports grounds, recalls that “homophobia kills”citing Lucas, a 13-year-old who committed suicide on January 7 as an alleged victim of homophobic bullying.