a suspended one-match suspension for four players and the Auteuil stand closed for one match

The Professional Football League (LFP) sanctioned Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) for homophobic and other offensive chants during a match against Olympique de Marseille (OM), announced Thursday October 5, the president of the disciplinary committee of the Professional Football League (LFP).

The day after the disaster in Newcastle (1-4) during the second 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 – took up 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 [par le 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 victory (4-0). During these celebrations, the four sanctioned players were seen chanting insults against their opponents of the day. They apologized on social media on Sunday saying “sincerely regret” their words, particularly with regard to their “duty to set an example”.

PSG’s ethics referent, Malek Boutih, met this week with partner associations, the LFP and government officials to “strengthen the systems”according to a source close to the club.

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 sanctions 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 Lorraine club stadium had been closed for a match.

The Minister of Sports, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, reiterated, Thursday, in an interview with West France that she condemned these songs. “We need individual sanctions and judicial bans from stadiums 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 refused to wear it and therefore did not play that day for their club, attracting criticism from associations fighting against homophobia.