A month and a half later, the homophobic chants of Parisian supporters during PSG – OM (4-0) have not stopped talking. Several associations indicated in a press release on Wednesday that they had filed a complaint in Paris against Amazon Prime, broadcaster of this Ligue 1 match played on September 24.
It was the LGBT Families association which filed the complaint on Wednesday morning, while the Mousse and Stop Homophobia associations will join the possible future procedure, according to the plaintiffs’ lawyer Etienne Deshoulières. The simple complaint, filed with the Paris judicial court, targets the offenses of insults and public provocations of hatred or violence against a group of people because of their sexual orientation.
She estimates that “in the rebroadcast” by Amazon Prime “of the Paris Saint Germain – Olympique de Marseille match, played on September 24, 2023”, “it is possible to hear several chants from supporters coming from the stands. Some of these songs have a pronounced homophobic character. » In these songs, mainly the work of Ultras from the Auteuil tribune, Parisian supporters call their Marseille rivals “fags”, “sons of bitches”, “motherfuckers” and other vulgarities.
For these facts, PSG was sanctioned by the disciplinary committee of the Professional Football League (LFP) which ordered the closure of the Auteuil stand for one final match and one suspended match.
“Fight against the trivialization of homophobia”
The complainants emphasize that “in the event of live broadcast of content, the publication director is not responsible for the comments”, which is no longer the case when it comes to a rebroadcast. However, Amazon subscribers can still watch the PSG-OM match on demand.
“This complaint against Amazon aims to fight against the trivialization of homophobia in and through football, an initiative which is based, once again, solely on the commitment of associations which will continue to let nothing go unnoticed” indicates Julien Pontes, spokesperson for the collective fighting against homophobia in sport Rouge Direct cited in the press release, which supports the initiative.
“In May 2023, Stop Homophobia, Mousse, Familles LGBT and the Rouge Direct collective had already initiated legal proceedings against Amazon Prime, in order to sanction the rebroadcast of homophobic songs on the Prime Video platform,” underlines the press release, recalling that “the platform then immediately reacted by indicating that it took this complaint very seriously and that it would put in place measures to no longer broadcast homophobic songs. » “Promises unfortunately not kept by Amazon Prime”, denounce the complainants.