On June 5, the association of LGBT+ supporters fighting against homophobia, Bleus et Fiers, filed a complaint against three Ligue 1 players, including Mostafa Mohamed, FC Nantes striker, for “public incitement to hatred due to sexual orientation. Their respective club and the Professional Football League are targeted by the same complaint.
On May 19, during the last day of Ligue 1 dedicated to the fight against homophobia, FC Nantes striker Mostafa Mohamed did not participate in the match against Monaco. Last year, the Egyptian player also refused to play the match against Toulouse, during the day of awareness of violence against LGBT+ people.
The same day, Monegasque Mohamed Camara had hidden the badge against homophobia on his jersey and covered the colors of the rainbow with black on the Ligue 1 logo stuck to his sleeve. He also had to refuse to pose in the pre-match photo.
The Minister of Sports, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, reacted strongly and called for sanctions. “I find that this is unacceptable behavior and must be subject to the strongest sanctions against the player, but also against the club which allowed it to happen.” Summoned on May 30 by the disciplinary committee of the Professional Football League, the Malian player from Monaco refused to participate in awareness workshops to fight homophobia; he received a four-match suspension.
As to Lille’s Nabil Bentaleb, he refused to pose in front of the LFP’s banner fighting against homophobia during the pre-match.
The association “Blue and proud” regrets that the Professional Football League (LFP) has only taken up one file, that of Mohamed Camara.
“Eshe has the obligation and it is in her role, in her statutes, to make a report to the public prosecutor, something which she never does: when there are homophobic songs, she must also report reports to the prosecutor, but she never does so”, underlines Jean-Baptiste Montarnier, president of the LGBT+ supporters association.
Judging the sanctions to be too weak, the Bleus et Fiers association filed a complaint against the three players, their respective clubs and the LFP. “Awareness-raising actions are not enough since homophobic songs and acts continue in French football.”
The association points out the low number of sanctions against clubs with regard to homophobic acts and songs, of the order of 90,000 euros during the last season. “A few weeks ago, Luton, in the English Premier League, was the victim of homophobic chants: they were fined 170 000 euros in sanctions for a single club”, compares Jean-Baptiste Montarnier. He also regrets the impunity enjoyed by the supporters behind the homophobic chants.
“The only sanction there was this year was against PSG, because the minister reacted in the media and the LFP took up the subject and closed the forum to a match”explains the activist.
The association NOSIG, the LGBTI+ center in Nantes, reacted positively to the complaint filed by “Bleus et Fiers”. Anne-Lise Céran, co-president of the association, football fan and supporter of the Canaries, underlines the lack of awareness of this day of fight against homophobic violence.
“Seeing players we love being against this violence is super important for us. The fact that they refuse to play or that they put something on the rainbow badge means that they support this violence towards people in the LGBT community. It is support and it is serious. Homophobia is not an opinion, it is a criminal offense.
“If players refused to play on a day against violence against women because it would be against their values to denounce this violence, how would the public react? asks Anne-Lise Céran. Or what if it was a day dedicated against racism in stadiums and a player refused to play? It’s the same principle, during this day, we denounce the violence and discrimination suffered by LGBTI+ people.”
Last year, the Nantes player received a financial sanction, a sum donated to a structure to combat homophobic violence, according to FC Nantes.
Nosig, which brings together almost all of the associations in Loire-Atlantique, specifies that none of them currently have “received money from FC Nantes, neither last year nor this year”.
“It’s a shame, it’s an announcement effect which ultimately is not followed by action”reacted the LFI MP for Loire-Atlantique, Ségolène Amiot, at the origin of a study group “Discrimination and LGBTQI-phobias”, at the National Assembly.
“These associations make it possible to make interventions, explain, provide education to clubs and ensure that players and young people learn to live together.”
