Paris St-Germain’s Idrissa Gueye refused to play in a match to keep away from carrying a rainbow symbol in help of LGBTQ+ rights, BBC Sport understands.
The 32-year-old former Aston Villa and Everton midfielder was absent from Saturday’s 4-0 win over Montpellier.
PSG boss Mauricio Pochettino stated solely that Gueye missed the sport for “private causes”.
The French Football Federation (FFF) has reportedly written to Gueye to make clear why he was absent.
BBC Sport has approached Gueye’s representatives for remark.
Crystal Palace’s Cheikhou Kouyate and Watford’s Ismaila Sarr have posted on social media in obvious help of their Senegal team-mate’s stance.
Kouyate posted an image of himself alongside Gueye on Instagram, with a caption calling Gueye “an actual man”. Watford winger Sarr posted an image of him and Gueye accompanied by three coronary heart emojis and the caption “100%”.
In response to Sarr’s put up, Watford reiterated their dedication to equality and variety, including “this contains the willingness to provide additional schooling and help to any of its workers”.
At a information convention on Wednesday, Crystal Palace boss Patrick Vieira stated if his participant had posted in relation to Gueye, he would communicate to them. “It’s going to be an in-house dialog,” he added.
Homosexuality is illegal in Senegal and punishable by jail sentences of up to 5 years. It can be unlawful in Qatar, the place PSG’s house owners hail from and the place the World Cup might be staged later this yr.
The high Twitter development on this planet on Wednesday was #WeareallIdrissa with tweets despatched to help Gueye’s stance.
For the second successive season, golf equipment in France have been invited to mark 17 May’s International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia by carrying rainbow-design numbers on the again of their shirts.
In addition to lacking Saturday’s win over Montpellier, Gueye, who arrived at PSG for £30m in July 2019, missed final yr’s present of solidarity citing gastroenteritis, in accordance to Le Parisien newspaper, who first reported the reason for his absence.
The AFP information company stated on Wednesday it had seen a letter from the FFF’s ethics board calling on Gueye to clarify why he missed Saturday’s recreation.
The letter, says AFP, requires him to “difficulty a public apology” or to say that the rumours he refused to play are “unfounded”.
The letter reportedly provides if he did refuse to play he can be “validating discriminatory behaviour”.
PSG stated on Wednesday that they have been “very proud to wear this shirt”.
“The largest stars of world soccer have been on the sphere on Saturday and expressed the membership’s dedication to the combat in opposition to homophobia and all types of discrimination,” it added.
Gueye’s stance has been supported by distinguished politicians in Senegal.
The nation’s president Macky Sall wrote on Twitter that Gueye’s Muslim beliefs should be revered, whereas sport minister Matar Ba wrote that Gueye was backed by his nation’s folks, alongside a picture of the midfielder on pilgrimage to Mecca.
Analysis
Babacar Diarra, BBC Africa
From his team-mates with the nationwide workforce like PSG’s Abdou Diallo or Crystal Palace’s Cheikhou Kouyate to the president Macky Sall and even the novelist Boubacar Boris Diop, Idrissa Gana Gueye was extensively backed on social medias throughout Senegal and the diaspora.
It adopted hypothesis he did not need to wear the PSG jersey on Saturday as a part of Ligue 1’s anti-homophobic marketing campaign.
President Sall has at all times been vocal in his interviews with worldwide media to verify that he won’t decriminalise homosexuality.
He confirmed this place when he tweeted Tuesday that Gueye’s “spiritual beliefs must be revered”, a day after the sports activities minister Matar Ba informed native media that the federal government was giving their help to the African champion.
The president of the federation Augustin Senghor stated the vice-captain of the Teranga Lions did not “violate his contract with PSG and simply wants others to respect his religion” which is why he known as him to specific his help.
On Twitter, the hashtag #jesuisidrissaganagueye (“I’m Idrissa Gana Gueye” in French) unfold since Sunday with the Senegalese neighborhood and even folks from different nations criticizing the participant’s remedy within the overseas media.
