Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Idrissa Gueye allegedly refused to wear the shirt with the colours of the LGTBI+ flag that the Parisian team wore last Saturday during the match against Montpellier.
All the players, including Leo Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Achraf Hakimi and Sergio Ramos, wore their jerseys with rainbow colours on the occasion of the World Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, which is celebrated on May 17.
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Gueye, 32, followed the match from the stands after being dropped from the squad in which he was initially included, according to France Info.
According to Le Parisien, the reason for not joining the cause could be motivated “by his religious convictions”. A refusal that “disconcerted and saddened several teammates on the PSG trip”.
The coach, Mauricio Pochettino, assured that the player had no physical problem, but did not play the match for “a personal reason”, which did not sit well with the Argentine coach, according to French media reports.
PSG refused to comment officially, but sources told EFE that “the club and its players, including its stars, are very proud to wear that shirt”.
“It is a matter that will be settled internally,” the sources said. Last season Gueye avoided a match in which PSG supported the LGTBI+ movement by wearing a similar shirt on the grounds that he was suffering from gastroenteritis.
The president of the Ile-de-France region, in which Paris is located, Valerie Pecresse, has deplored the footballer’s actions and called for sanctions.
“The players of a football club, and those of PSG in particular, are figures of identification for our young people, they have a duty to set an example. Idrissa Gana Gueye’s refusal to join the fight against homophobia must not go unpunished,” she said.
The association for the fight against homophobia in sport, Rouge Direct, has also called for measures against the footballer.
“Homophobia is not an opinion but a crime. The LFP and PSG must ask Gueye for explanations and very quickly. And sanction him if necessary,” they said. (Marca)
