French football league condemns homophobic chants

The French soccer league has condemned homophobic chants made by some Paris Saint-Germain supporters during the home game against Strasbourg on Saturday.

PSG will face its fierce rival next Sunday in Marseille, and the offensive slurs targeted the club and its midfielder, Adrien Rabiot. A former PSG player with over 200 appearances from 2012 to 2019, Rabiot’s transfer to Marseille is viewed by some as a betrayal.

“These latest discriminatory chants made by Paris Saint-Germain supporters are unacceptable when, at the same time, the whole of professional soccer has been working to ban homophobic behavior and chants from stadiums,” stated the league, known as LFP.

During the incident, the stadium announcer at Parc des Princes requested twice for the chants to cease but was met with boos, according to ‘France24’.

The LFP announced that its disciplinary committee would examine the evidence.

In the previous season, some PSG players received a one-match suspended sentence from the league’s disciplinary committee for offensive chants directed at Marseille after a home league match.

Ousmane Dembélé, Achraf Hakimi, Randal Kolo Muani, and Layvin Kurzawa were recorded using insults while celebrating after a 4-0 victory over Marseille. All four players issued apologies.

That match was also tainted by homophobic chants from sections of PSG fans targeting Marseille players. Consequently, the league ordered the closure of the Auteuil stand behind one of the goals for two matches, with one suspension.

French champion PSG will host PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League on Tuesday.

For security reasons and due to a history of clashes between rival fans, PSG supporters are prohibited from attending next Sunday’s game in Marseille at Stade Velodrome.

The rivalry between the clubs has been one of the most intense in French soccer since the 1990s, when Marseille was in its prime and PSG was becoming more ambitious with support from television broadcaster Canal Plus.

Since 2011, PSG has been funded by Qatari investors QSI, making it the most successful French club domestically with 12 league titles, surpassing both Marseille and Saint-Etienne by two titles.

Although Marseille has not clinched the league since 2010, it still holds the ultimate bragging rights over PSG.

Marseille remains the only French club to have won the Champions League, defeating the Italian giant AC Milan 1-0 in the 1993 final. In contrast, PSG lost its only final 1-0 against Bayern Munich during the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign.