Hot!
Idrissa Gueye refuses to wear PSG shirt featuring rainbow symbol
aris St-Germain’s Idrissa Gueye refused to play in a match to avoid wearing a rainbow symbol in support of LGBTQ+ rights, BBC Sport understands.
The 32-year-old former Aston Villa and Everton midfielder was absent from Saturday’s 4-0 win over Montpellier.
PSG boss Mauricio Pochettino said only that Senagalese Gueye missed the game for “personal reasons”.
The French Football Federation (FFF) has reportedly written to Gueye to clarify why he was absent.
BBC Sport has approached Gueye’s representatives for comment.
Crystal Palace’s Cheikhou Kouyate and Watford’s Ismaila Sarr have posted on social media in apparent support of their Senegal team-mate’s stance.
Kouyate posted a picture of himself alongside Gueye on Instagram, with a caption calling Gueye “a real man”. Watford winger Sarr posted a picture of him and Gueye accompanied by three heart emojis and the caption “100%”.
In response to Sarr’s post, Watford reiterated their commitment to equality and diversity, adding “this includes the willingness to offer further education and support to any of its employees”.
At a news conference on Wednesday, Crystal Palace boss Patrick Vieira said if his player had posted in relation to Gueye, he would speak to them. “It’s going to be an in-house conversation,” he added.
Homosexuality is illegal in Senegal and punishable by prison sentences of up to five years. It is also illegal in Qatar, where PSG’s owners hail from and where the men’s 2022 World Cup will be staged later this year.
The top Twitter trend in the world on Wednesday was #WeareallIdrissa with tweets sent to support Gueye’s stance.
Gueye’s stance is in contrast to the overwhelmingly positive response from football towards Blackpool’s 17-year-old forward Jake Daniels coming out as gay on Monday – the first openly gay men’s professional footballer in Britain since Justin Fashanu 30 years ago.
For the second successive season, clubs in France have been invited to mark 17 May’s International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia by wearing rainbow-design numbers on the back of their shirts.
In addition to missing Saturday’s win over Montpellier, Gueye, who arrived at PSG for £30m in July 2019, missed last year’s show of solidarity citing gastroenteritis, according to Le Parisien newspaper, who first reported the reason for his absence.
The AFP news agency said on Wednesday it had seen a letter from the FFF’s ethics board calling on Gueye to explain why he missed Saturday’s game.
The letter, says AFP, calls for him to “issue a public apology” or to say that the rumours he refused to play are “unfounded”.
The country’s president Macky Sall wrote on Twitter that Gueye’s Muslim beliefs must be respected, while sport minister Matar Ba wrote that Gueye was backed by his country’s people, alongside a picture of the midfielder on pilgrimage to Mecca.
The letter reportedly adds if he did refuse to play he would be “validating discriminatory behaviour”.
PSG said on Wednesday that they were “very proud to wear this shirt”.
“The biggest stars of world football were on the field on Saturday and expressed the club’s commitment to the fight against homophobia and all forms of discrimination,” it added.
Gueye’s stance has been supported by prominent politicians in Senegal.
Source: BBC
Education Minister Haruna Iddrissu has announced that government is working to make education free for all learners with special needs, with funding expected to come from GETFund.
He shared the plan during a press briefing with the media.
According to him, an initial estimate shows that the policy will require between 65 million and 100 million cedis every year.
He noted that GETFund currently has a budget of 9 million cedis, and with proper adjustments, it should be possible for the fund to release about 100 million cedis every other year to support the policy.
Mr Iddrissu added that government is also committed to providing free tertiary education for all persons with disabilities.
He explained that the support will go beyond classroom learning and will include feeding and the provision of assistive learning devices for learners with special needs.
By: Jacob Aggrey
Ghana’s singing Prophet, Joseph Atarah, has released a video for his new song dubbed ‘Increase’. The video was directed and shot by renowned director, Sky Web.
The motivational video exhibits captivating dance moves, set against the vibrant and beautiful city of Accra. Prophet Atarah co-wrote the song with Nana Boateng.
Touching on the message during an interview on Hitz FM’s Daybreak Hitz, he said, ‘Increase’ is a motivational song telling people not to give up in their present situation. According to him, with determination and a relentless desire to succeed, God will make everything beautiful.
“As you trust in God’s plan, remember that ‘INCREASE’ is on the way. Just as seeds grow into harvest, your faith is growing into abundance. God’s got you, and His increase is surrounding you,” he added.
Prophet Atarah resigned from the military band in 2006 after an encounter with God to start his prophetic ministry and commenced his music journey about four years ago.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
Join our WhatsApp Channel now!
https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbBElzjInlqHhl1aTU27
