The meeting between Saint-Etienne and Strasbourg (2-0) was marked by new homophobic chants which did not, however, cause its interruption. The LFP explains the reasons to Le Parisien.
A new Ligue 1 match provokes indignation in the political world. Saint-Etienne supporters sang a new homophobic chant against the Lyonnais on Sunday against Strasbourg (2-0) before the derby against the hated neighbor on Sunday (8:45 p.m.). The Minister of Sports, Gil Avérous, denounced an “unacceptable” act and asked to “identify, challenge and ban from stadiums the few who still pretend not to understand” by promising to work on the subject with the Minister of Sports. Interior, Bruno Retailleau and his Secretary of State Othman Nasrou.
The delegate and the referee would not have heard the chant
The latter was also surprised to see the meeting continue. “The LFP must explain to us why the Saint-Etienne – Strasbourg match was not interrupted,” he said on had not been the subject of any report in the match report made by the delegate. He would not have heard the words intoned for around thirty seconds, just like the referee. Which would explain the lack of interruption.
Failure to include these actions in the report also has the effect of not allowing the LFP disciplinary committee to make a decision. She did it against PSG with the partial closure of the Auteuil stand after the homophobic chants repeated for long minutes by Parisian supporters against the Marseillais during the match against Strasbourg (4-2), on October 19. The announcer at the Parc des Princes intervened twice to try to interrupt these chants, in vain.
The situation is a little different in Saint-Etienne where the chants were briefer and less audible from the delegate and the referee who alone has the power to stop a match. The LFP recalls relying on the protocol planned by Fifa in three stages: an announcement made in the stadium to demand an end to discriminatory chants, a temporary stoppage of the match, then the definitive stoppage. None of this happened at Geoffroy-Guichard.
