2023-11-23 17:37:44
After the benches of the court, it was from those of the National Assembly that Éric Dupond-Moretti spoke, with a sullen expression, this Thursday, November 23. Hearing at the commission of inquiry into the failings of sports federations, the Minister of Justice, looking serious, stepped up to fight homophobia in stadiums.
“I am fed up with hearing this behavior in the stadiums, these vociferations, these homophobic cries. It has nothing to do with sport. I recently saw Basile Boli’s testimony, it really touched me. He explained how he experienced these monkey cries addressed to him. I’m totally prepared for guys who behave like that to be banned from the stadium for good. I’m ready for us to watch this. I don’t have an impassable line. » As a reminder, currently, a person can be banned from stadiums for a maximum of 5 years.
This Wednesday, before the same committee, the two leaders of the Professional Football League (LFP), Vincent Labrune and Arnaud Rouger, also announced that they wanted to strike hard against homophobia in stadiums. They are considering an operation to combat homophobia that is “clearer” than the rainbow jersey in Ligue 1, which was abandoned last October. Vincent Labrune, for his part, pleaded for a systematic interruption of a match “at the first song” of this type. Rouger, for his part, described singing homophobic lyrics as “cheesy”.
“I will very soon send people from the ministry to England,” then added the Minister of Justice. They experienced hooliganism which was a terror. They managed to resolve this, with drastic measures. If we have to go and copy these measurements, we will go there. It’s all hellish. I would also like the tickets (for matches) to be reminded of the terms of the Penal Code on this subject. Whether you throw a rocket at the stadium, whether you scream like a monkey at a player of color… Stop! »
For Éric Dupond-Moretti, these behaviors are “the anti-sport par excellence”. “If we have to be more severe, we will propose a certain number of things (…) If we talk about folklore, we have to change the folklore. Folklore is meant to bring people together. There, homophobic behavior, for example, hurts people. »
Éric Dupond-Moretti’s comments hit another dissonant news story on the subject: the no further action announced that same day by AFP, following the report made about homophobic chants sung during an OM-PSG match in september. “It is impossible to individually identify the authors of the songs,” AFP learned on Thursday. This report was made by the interministerial delegate for the fight against racism, anti-Semitism and anti-LGBT hatred (Dilcrah), Olivier Klein, who confirms the classification without further action.
For these same facts, several LGBT+ associations filed a complaint on November 8 in Paris against Amazon Prime, broadcaster of the match: in the rebroadcast, “it is possible to hear several chants from supporters coming from the stands. Some of these songs are of a pronounced homophobic nature,” denounces the complaint.
According to one Ipsos survey published at the beginning of September and conducted with the LGBT+ Sports Federation, 46% of French people say they have already witnessed homophobic or transphobic behavior in the sporting environment.
Last October, Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra joined French football authorities to implement several actions aimed at combating homophobia in stadiums. In the program, she notably proposed the strengthening of awareness-raising and training workshops in the fight against discrimination, as well as the appointment of trained referents within supporters’ clubs. In the letter dated October 12, the minister announced the implementation of these actions “in the coming weeks”. It is now time to act accordingly.
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