Since the Ligue 1 match against Strasbourg last Saturday, Paris Saint-Germain has been targeted for homophobic chants sung by certain fans at the Parc des Princes, and there’s been renewed agitation from the various authorities (government and Ligue de Football Professionnel). A meeting was held on Thursday and some major announcements were relayed by RMC Sport afterwards.
Sports Minister Gil Avérous:
“As soon as a homophobic chant is sung, the match is suspended for a few minutes, then possibly interrupted. The teams are sent back to the changing rooms for a set time, and the match resumes if calm is restored.
At the higher end of the scale, the match is stopped and the home team loses 3-0. The request that has been made to the League and to the FFF in general is to strictly apply the regulations.”
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau:
“I will regularly place police officers in civilian clothes in stadiums to spot troublemakers individually. You won’t see them. I’m not going to tell you where they’ll be. I’ve spoken to the ANS about it. And why not?
Three types of sanctions: judicial (bans), administrative and, in the case of sport, disciplinary. You have to identify the offence in order to personalize it, and then legalize it if it’s a criminal offence.
If there’s homophobic chanting, the sports movement has to take responsibility, and there has to be a temporary suspension. Stopping matches is very complicated, it’s not the right solution. But there has to be a temporary interruption, possibly exfiltrations, even if it’s complicated within a stand. We have to interrupt.
What if the chanting continues? I don’t want to say, that’s up to the sporting movement. I won’t interfere with the sporting movement.”
Philippe Diallo, President of the French Football Federation, emphasized that protocols are in place for provisional suspension for chanting or violence. Then it’s up to the referees, who will once again be “ sensitized” to these issues.
We appreciate the fact that he specifies that this applies to all discriminatory chants, whereas it was regrettable that only homophobic chants were mentioned. Of course, this is an important battle to wage, but not the only one.
Now we’re waiting to see exactly how this is applied and how effective it is. We need to improve the atmosphere and attitudes in stadiums. But it’s not just soccer that’s the problem, even if we also have to do something about it. We’re already seeing hesitation over a match that has been definitively abandoned with a forfeit loser. We need to be clear and consistent to avoid tensions. Still, it’s good to see concrete action at last.
