The head of French football said on Friday that “too many matches” have been stopped due to homophobic chants and banners, despite public outcry over a series of anti-gay incidents since the start of the 2019-2020 season.

Noël Le Graët, president of the French Football Federation (FFF), said that the FFF would not instruct referees to stop matches except in cases when a “whole stadium” was guilty of homophobic chanting.

“I think we’re stopping too many matches! That makes certain government ministers happy, but it bothers me. Football can’t be taken hostage by vulgarity,” said Le Graët in an interview with regional newspaper Ouest-France.

“Matches have been stopped when they shouldn’t have been,” Le Graët continued. “We will stop them if there is consistent homophobic abuse from the whole ground, but if among 30,000 people there are 2,000 imbeciles I don’t see why the other 28,000 should be punished.”

Since the start of the French football season less than a month ago on August 9, there have been at least 20 cases of fans chanting homophobic slurs or showing anti-gay banners during domestic games. By contrast, there were 111 incidents of homophobic abuse in England over the course of the entire 2017-2018 season, according to Kick It Out, a British pressure group for equality in the sport.

Le Graët’s organisation changed rules to allow matches to be stopped

Ironically, it was the body run by Le Graët, the FFF (Fédération française de football), which put in place new rules before the start of the 2019-2020 football season  to allow referees to halt games in response to fans’ displays of homophobia.

For years, fans faced no consequences for engaging in the homophobic chanting common in French football, such as the use of the swear word “enculé,” which carries unmistakably anti-gay connotations.

However, the FFF was prompted to act after France’s Sport Minister Roxana Maracineau expressed outrage over fans’ anti-gay chants during Le Classique – the clash between bitter rivals PSG and Marseille – in March.

Saying that this sort of chanting made her want to stop taking her children to football matches, Maracineau expressed further shock over another case of homophobic chanting during a match between Lens and Valenciennes in April – leading the FFF to create new rules.

France’s Minister for Equality Marlène Schiappa publicly praised referee Clément Turpin after he stopped Marseille’s 2-1 win at Nice for over 10 minutes in August in response to anti-gay chants and the unfurling of homophobic banners by home fans.

PSG’s match at Metz two days later was also briefly halted because of two banners displayed by the hosts’ supporters: one reading “I won’t be on TV because my words are too gay”, the other saying “PSG, FFF, let me sing and tell you to go f*ck yourselves!”

‘The crisis will resolve itself’, says Le Graët

But Le Graët argued that a laissez-faire approach from politicians would be the best way to deal with the issue.

“Did football invent homophobia?” he asked, adding that “there are more important political issues”.

“This crisis will resolve itself,” the head of the FFF continued. “We will work with club presidents – people who don’t interfere every morning, who don’t just want to  look good for the television cameras.”

These statements provoked a fierce response from Maracineau, who wrote in a Facebook post on Saturday that she was “astonished” by Le Graët’s words, before warning that “it must be remembered that homophobia is considered a form of discrimination in our society”.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Inter Milan striker Romelu Lukaku defended his professionalism in the wake of criticism over his weight towards the end of his time at Manchester United.

The Belgian joined Inter in a 65 million euro ($73 million) move earlier this month after two years at Old Trafford.

Lukaku scored 42 goals for the Red Devils, but just 15 of them came last season as he fell down the pecking order once Ole Gunnar Solskjaer replaced Jose Mourinho.

And former Manchester United captain Gary Neville was among those to criticise Lukaku’s physical condition, claiming he weighed over 100 kilogrammes.

“He (Neville) can talk about my fitness but he should never say anything about my professionalism, that I don’t work hard enough,” Lukaku told the BBC.

“That is something he cannot say. All the coaches I have had say the same thing about me.

“What did Ole Gunnar Solskjaer say when I was on the training ground? What did he say? That I always work hard and always do my best to try and improve myself. Same with Jose Mourinho and (Belgium and former Everton manager) Roberto Martinez. Now (Inter coach) Antonio Conte will say it.

“Last year was just a bad year. It happens in football. You just have to move on. I am not going to sit here and react in a negative way.”

Hopes were high that Lukaku could spearhead a new era for United when he joined from Everton for £75 million ($91 million) in 2017, but he left Manchester having failed to win a trophy.

“For me, the Manchester United experience is one I am grateful for – not a good one because we didn’t win and I wanted to win with the club – but they gave me a chance,” added Lukaku.

“I got to play for one of the biggest clubs in the world, so I will always be respectful to them. At the end, I thought it was better for me to move on and try different things.”

Lukaku was particularly complimentary on the way Solskjaer handled his exit.

“Me and Ole tried to work together but at one point I had to be honest with him. He was also honest with me. We found an agreement. I wanted to go. He understood why I wanted to go.

“It is something I will always be grateful to him for. We had a conversation man to man. I told him how I felt and he understood. He will always get massive respect from me and massive protection.”

Alexis Sanchez followed Lukaku’s path by also leaving United to join Inter on a season-long loan deal this week.

United will still pay a large chunk of the Chilean’s reported £400,000 a week wages so keen were they to cut their losses on a disastrous signing.

Sanchez has scored just five times in 45 appearances since joining from Arsenal in 2018, but Lukaku believes the two can form a potent partnership in Serie A.

“He has had a difficult time at Manchester United. Coming here was the right move, in a good dressing room, where the manager wants winners who can really help the team. He is going to be part of that,” said Lukaku.

“He is going to add a lot of competition to the squad we already have. Now it is up to him to show it. I really believe he is going to do well for us.”

AFP

The Cameroon international continued to flourish in the absence of Cavani and Mbappe by helping the Parisians outclass the Maroons

Eric Choupo-Moting maintained his impressive form in front of goal, scoring once in Paris Saint-Germain’s 2-0 victory over Metz.

After netting a brace in his side’s 4-0 thrashing of Toulouse last weekend, the Cameroon international was again on target at Stade Saint Symphorien.

In the absence of injured Edinson Cavani and Kylian Mbappe, the 30-year-old was handed his first start of the season by manager Thomas Tuchel.

PSG started the game on the front foot with Angel Di Maria opening the scoring with only 11 minutes into the encounter from the penalty spot.

The former Stoke City striker then doubled the lead in the 43rd minute of the game after receiving a pass from Marco Verratti.

Summer signing Idrissa Gueye made his second start for the Parisians since switching from Premier League side Everton, featuring from start to finish while Choupo-Moting was replaced in the 90th minute.

Algeria goalkeeper Alexandre Oukidja was in goal for Metz but failed to keep a clean sheet in the match, while his compatriot Farid Boulaya made way for Senegal’s Ibrahima Niane in the 82nd minute.

Mali international Mamadou Fofana was withdrawn in the 59th minute while Senegal’s duo of Habib Diallo and Opa Nguette as well as Ghana international John Boye featured for the enture duration of the game but could not prevent the defeat.

The win propelled the Parisians back to the top of the league with nine points after four games. PSG are scheduled to host Strasbourg at the Parc des Princes for their next league match on September 14.

Source: Goal.com

The Cameroon defender requested his omission from the team’s opening league match against Sassuolo on Sunday. Torino president Urbano Cairo is furious about Nicolas N’Koulou’s situation at the club and has demanded the defender apologise to his teammates.

N’Koulou, who has been heavily linked with a move to league rivals Roma this summer, missed the Bull’s 2-1 win over Sassuolo on Sunday. The 29-year-old was reported to have requested his omission from Walter Mazarri’s team as he hopes to clear his future before the September 2 transfer deadline.

Even though Roma’s interest in N’Koulou continues to grow, Cairo said the Cameroon international – who has two years left on his contract – will not leave Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino this summer.

The former Monaco and Marseille centre-back moved to Italy in 2017 from Lyon and has established himself in the heart of Torino’s defence but his recent performances have been questioned.

“N’Koulou? He has a performance like the one against Wolverhampton, which wasn’t exceptional – you saw him on the third goal, and then he tells the manager he’s not mentally prepared after being called up,” Cairo told Tuttomercatoweb, per Roma Press.

“He should’ve told us a day sooner so we could play someone else.

“I said at the beginning of the transfer window that I will keep everyone, so he will also remain. Maybe he has other ideas, but he has a contract for another two years.

“N’Koulou must apologise to the club and to his teammates. Will he stay? For me, yes, I want to keep everyone.

“And as I said, he has a contract for another two years. I even met with his agent at Forte dei Marmi: we were talking all afternoon and even talked about adding a buyout clause.

“Is this a low blow from Petrachi? No, I don’t know this, but Roma aren’t even able to contact our players: there is a written agreement, if they do, they have to pay a penalty of €900,000.”

Source: Goal.com