On the sidelines of Paris Saint-Germain’s big victory against Olympique de Marseille on Sunday (4-0) during the 6th day of Ligue 1, insulting and homophobic chants were sung by Parisian supporters. “The Marseillais are bastards, sons of bastards, bastards,” we could hear at the Parc des Princes, as evidenced by videos shared on social networks. PSG could be sanctioned by the Professional Football League (LFP), especially after its disciplinary committee was “seized”, as Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra declared on Monday on Twitter). Sanctions have already been handed out in the past in France on this subject.

At the start of the 2019-20 season, several clubs and supporters were singled out for this type of chanting. A few months earlier, former Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu said she was in favor of stopping matches in the event of homophobic chants. This is what happened during Nancy-Le Mans in Ligue 2 on August 16, or during Nice-OM in L1 on August 28. AS Nancy-Lorraine was sanctioned by the LFP with the closure of its Piantoni stand for a match. OGC Nice, for comments of a “discriminatory nature” coming from its supporters, had seen the “upper part of the South stand” of the Allianz Riviera closed for a match.

Marseille, which had already experienced incidents of this type, had been deprived of visitor parking for a meeting. But these examples in no way guarantee that PSG will be punished in turn. Also in August 2019, homophobic chants targeting Kylian Mbappé were denounced during Rennes-PSG. “Paris, Paris, we love you…” had also resonated. The referee of the match, Antony Gautier, did not stop the game. In his post-match report, he noted insults. All of them? Not sure. The LFP was content with a call to order against Stade Rennais regarding “insulting” and non-discriminatory chants.

In the case of Paris Saint-Germain, we must therefore wonder whether the PSG-OM referee on Sunday, Willy Delajod, recorded insulting chants in his report, and whether the discriminatory nature was retained. If not, the probability that the LFP will sanction PSG, for example by closing the stands for a match, is reduced. But not non-existent. Evidence of these songs exists, and Amélie Oudéa-Castéra gave a completely different resonance to the case by discussing it publicly.

“I ensured last night that a firm response was provided,” declared the Minister of Sports. The LFP disciplinary committee has now been contacted. I invite PSG to file a complaint to identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice, so that they are removed from the stadiums. For the government member, “it is unthinkable to remain deaf to such hateful and homophobic chants in our stands” and “it is urgent to eradicate them from our stadiums”.

However, since the 2019-20 season, marked by the interruption of football due to the Covid-19 pandemic and long months with empty stands, no match has been stopped for homophobic chants in France. They have not disappeared from speakers, far from it: they are simply ignored.

Following the publication of our article, PSG sent us its reaction to the controversy by email. “Paris Saint-Germain condemns all forms of discrimination, in particular homophobia, and wishes to point out that they have their place neither in stadiums nor in society,” states the capital club, recalling that he “has been working for many years with leading associations in the fight against all discrimination, such as SOS Homophobia, which does prevention within training and pre-training centers, Sportitude, SOS Racisme and Licra with the club and supporters.

If it does not respond (yet) to Oudéa-Castéra’s invitation to file a complaint, PSG “intends to further strengthen its preventive work in the fight against homophobia and will meet in the coming days with all of its partners on this essential subject. As the official website of the French administration, service-public.fr, points out, in a case of homophobia, “the penalty incurred is one year of imprisonment and a fine of €45,000” for insult or public defamation. .

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