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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
The prosecution has officially rested its case in The Republic v Solomon Asamoah & Another, the high-profile legal battle commonly referred to as the “Sky Train” case.
The Deputy Attorney General Justice Srem Sai announced the development, praising the state’s team of hard-working prosecutors for successfully anchoring the state’s evidence before the High Court.
The criminal trial centers on the former Chief Executive Officer and the former Board Chairman of the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF).
The duo stands accused of illegally authorizing and paying out US$2 million to a foreign company without obtaining board directives or other mandatory statutory approvals.
State investigators have confirmed that the disbursed millions cannot be found.
Following the closure of the prosecution’s case, the accused persons moved the court for an opportunity to file a submission of no case.
The presiding judge granted the application, ordering the defense to submit their arguments by June 8.
The outcome of the June 8 filings will decide the fate of the trial:
With this, if the judge finds the defense’s submission convincing, the accused will be acquitted and discharged however, If the judge dismisses the submission, the court will order the accused officials to take the stand and explain why they should not face prison sentences.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
Member of Parliament for Akuapem North, Sammy Awuku, has expressed deep sorrow following the sudden passing of Isaac Batsa, the constituency secretary for the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) lawmaker issued a statement on Tuesday reacting to the news, which has shocked the local political community.
Mr.Awuku praised the late NDC secretary for his bipartisan approach to local governance.
He noted that despite their different political affiliations, Batsa consistently rose above party lines to serve the constituency with diligence.
The MP revealed that the news was particularly shocking given that he had last interacted with Batsa just three days prior on Saturday.
Concluding his statement, Sammy Awuku extended his heartfelt condolences to Batsa’s family, the constituency and regional executives, and the entire NDC fraternity, wishing the deceased peaceful eternal rest.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
