LFP scraps rainbow colours on players’ shirts for Ligue 1 anti-homophobia day | OneFootball

The LFP has decided to remove rainbow colours from players’ shirts for the Ligue 1 matchday dedicated to combating homophobia.

According to L'Équipe, the league notified partner associations at a meeting on Wednesday that the rainbow motif would be dropped.

The initiative had often been marred by a handful of players refusing to take part, with some declining to play or wear the shirt. In 2022 PSG’s Idrissa Gueye and Abdou Diallo refused. In 2023 Nantes forward Mostafa Mohamed and Toulouse’s Saïd Hamulic, Moussa Diarra and Zakaria Aboukhlal also refused to play.

From 2024 Monaco’s Mohamed Camara, plus Le Havre’s Ahmed Hassan and OL’s Nemanja Matic last season, hid the colours to show their disapproval. Mohamed has refused to play in each of the last three seasons’ editions and, as the only one still in Ligue 1, will therefore have no reason to boycott the final matchday.

Two years ago the league had already stepped back by abandoning rainbow-coloured squad numbers, a move that led SOS Homophobie and PanamBoyz & Girlz United, now PanamPride Football Club, to end their partnerships.

Work is under way on a new communications approach combining anti-discrimination themes, including workshops on racism and homophobia. Further details are not yet available.

Source: L'Équipe