A quartet from the French football champions Paris is being tried for homophobic chants St Germain sentenced to a ban. The quartet includes former Bundesliga professionals Ousmane Dembélé, Achraf Hakimi (both Borussia Dortmund) and Randal Kolo Muani (Eintracht Frankfurt).
The fourth player is Layvin Kurzawa. The professionals got off lightly because the punishment was suspended by the disciplinary committee of the French league association LFP.
There were homophobic chants after the game Ligue 1 on September 24, 2023 against Olympique Marseille (4:0). PSG has to close a stand from which fans also made homophobic insults to the OM players for a match. The ban on entry to this area of the Prinzenparkstadion for a second game has been suspended.
Apologies before hearing
The punished players had already apologized for their misconduct several days before their hearing at the LFP headquarters. “We seriously regret the words we never should have said. We allowed ourselves to be seduced by the euphoria. We are aware of the impact of our actions and we will do everything in the future to live up to our commitment as role models.”explained the four professionals in unanimous statements on their personal channels on social networks.
Government demanded consequences
Shortly after the incidents in Paris, members of the French government called for consequences against abusive PSG fans. Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera demanded from the club “file a lawsuit to identify the authors and take them to court to have them removed from the stadiums”. Be it “It is unthinkable that we turn a deaf ear to such hateful and homophobic chants in our stands”the politician continued.
In France, homophobic chants are more common in stadiums. Last season, some professionals also refused to wear a jersey with a rainbow print to mark the day against homophobia.