The French Professional Football League announced that it punished Malian player Mohamed Camara, Monaco midfielder, with a four-match suspension, after he refused to participate in a campaign supporting homosexuality.
“ESPN” reported that Kamara, who is 24 years old, covered the logo for the anti-homophobia campaign with white tape during the club’s last match of the season in the French League, which ended with his team’s 4-0 victory against Nantes.
The French Football League explained in its statement that the decision to impose the suspension came after listening to Kamara.
French Sports Minister, Emilie Odea Castera, described Camara’s actions as “unacceptable” and called for “severe sanctions” against the player and the club
On the other hand, the Malian Football Federation issued a statement in support of Kamara, considering that “players are citizens like any other person, and their basic rights must be protected in all circumstances.”
Monaco’s chief executive, Thiago Scuro, confirmed that the club supports the French Professional Football League’s campaign, and added that they would discuss the situation with Kamara “internally”.
It is noteworthy that the French League organized its annual campaign during the final round at the weekend, where each team wore a badge bearing the word “homophobia” crossed out, and the championship logo was also displayed on the teams’ shirts in rainbow colors.
This is not the first time that a football player has refused to participate in such campaigns. In 2022, Idrissa Ghana Gueye, the Everton midfielder at the time, refused to participate in a match during which the players wore shirts with numbers in the colors of the rainbow.
Last year, Nantes fined Egyptian striker Mostafa Mohamed for similar reasons.
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