Referee briefly stops French league match between PSG and Lyon after homophobic chants

A French league soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Lyon was briefly interrupted Sunday because of homophobic chanting by PSG fans.

Referee Benoît Bastien stopped play in the 53rd minute at the Parc des Princes with host PSG leading 2-1 after the chants were heard.

PSG captain Achraf Hakimi approached fans in the Auteuil stand behind one of the goals to ask them to stop. A message reminding fans that discriminatory chants are forbidden was then displayed on the stadium’s giant screens.

“The match could be stopped or even lost for the club,” the message read.

Play eventually resumed after a few minutes.

The chants in Paris were just the latest in a long series of similar incidents as French soccer authorities struggle to tackle the issue.

France’s Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau suggested earlier this year that matches should be halted when fans chant homophobic slurs in stadiums.

Earlier this month, a French campaign group renewed calls for authorities to take action against homophobic chanting by soccer fans, saying Marseille supporters belted out anti-gay slurs “with complete impunity” during a home game against Monaco.

Homophobic insults often heard at Ligue 1 matches have been tolerated for a long time by club officials, and soccer authorities have struggled to find appropriate ways of tackling the issue.

In 2019, following a match at the Parc des Princes between PSG and Marseille during which home fans used homophobic insults, the league launched an action plan allowing spectators to report sexist, homophobic or racist incidents they witness. The abuse has not stopped, though, even intensifying in recent months.

French clubs have been sanctioned with fines, and the league’s disciplinary commission also ordered the closure of stands for similar cases in recent years. Also, French law provides for up to one year imprisonment and a 45,000 euro ($47,600) fine when anti-gay insults are made in public.

Last season, some PSG players received a one-match suspended sentence by the league disciplinary committee for offensive chants aimed at Marseille after a home league match. Ousmane Dembélé, Hakimi, Randal Kolo Muani and Layvin Kurzawa were filmed using insults while celebrating at the end of a 4-0 win against Marseille. The four players issued apologies. That match was also marred by homophobic chanting by sections of PSG fans targeting Marseille players.

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