The Professional Football League (LFP) sanctioned Paris Saint-Germain for homophobic and other offensive chants during a match against Olympique de Marseille (OM), the president of the football commission announced on Thursday, October 5. discipline of the Professional Football League (LFP).
The day after the disaster in Newcastle (4-1) during the 2nd day of the Champions League, the players Ousmane Dembélé, Randal Kolo Muani, Achraf Hakimi and Laywin Kurzawa, heard by videoconference, were sentenced to a suspended match suspension for offensive chants, Sébastien Deneux, president of the LFP disciplinary committee, told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
During the match against OM on September 24, thousands of supporters – mainly the ultras from the Auteuil stand – resumed homophobic chants for around ten minutes. For these facts, PSG was also ordered to close the Auteuil stand for a match: it will therefore be empty during the match against Strasbourg on October 21. The sanction also includes another suspended closure of the stand.
In a press release, the Parisian club regretted “an excessive and collective measure likely to undermine the work of dialogue and prevention undertaken [by PSG] with associative, institutional actors and supporters”. But he will not appeal the decision concerning his platform, he clarified. Contacted by AFP, the Collectif ultras Paris (CUP), which occupies the Auteuil stand, did not wish to communicate.
Homophobic chants in Rennes too
At the final whistle of the PSG-OM match, the Parisian players gathered in front of the same Auteuil stand to celebrate the 4-0 victory. During these celebrations, the four sanctioned players were seen chanting insults against their opponents of the day . They apologized on social networks on Sunday, saying they “sincerely regret” their words, particularly in view of their “duty to set an example”.
The club’s ethics representative, Malek Boutih, met this week with partner associations, the LFP and government officials to “strengthen the systems”, according to a source close to PSG.
Sunday evening, during the women’s D1 clash between PSG and Olympique Lyonnais at the Parc des Princes, the Parisian ultras displayed a banner for several minutes in the Auteuil stand “Paris against discrimination and recovery”. At the same time, but in Rennes, other homophobic chants were heard at Roazhon Park during the Rennes-Nantes match. This case was also examined Thursday by the League’s disciplinary commission. A sanction will be pronounced next Thursday, said Sébastien Deneux.
Some 202 penalties last season
On August 16, 2019, a Ligue 2 match between Nancy and Le Mans became the first professional football match to be interrupted by a referee in France for homophobic chants. A stand at the Nancy stadium had been closed for a match.
The Minister of Sports, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, reiterated Thursday in an interview with Ouest-France that she condemned these chants. “We need individual sanctions and judicial stadium bans against the people who are the leaders,” she stressed.
A sign that homophobia is still a widespread evil in French football, some 202 sanctions were taken last season by the LFP disciplinary committee for acts of discrimination, the vast majority of a homophobic nature, during 175 matches: 106 calls to order, 61 suspended fines, 34 firm fines and one grandstand closure (banners during Montpellier-Nantes).
Every year, a rainbow flocked jersey is worn by all L1 players during a championship day. Last year, some players refused to wear this jersey and therefore did not play for their club, attracting criticism from associations fighting against homophobia.
