four years after its launch, will the rainbow jersey disappear from Ligue 1 pitches?

The Professional Football League meets on Thursday November 16 at 2 p.m. to take stock of the actions taken against homophobia and discuss the future of the rainbow jersey. Since 2019, it has been worn by footballers who play in Ligue 1 every May, on the occasion of the weekend to combat homophobia. These jerseys, which feature multicolored colors inside the numbers, are intended to be a guarantee of the support of French football in the fight against discrimination.

But last May, the operation turned into a national debate after the refusal of five Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 players to wear it, some highlighting their “personal beliefs”.

Professional football is a particularly conducive terrain for this homophobic culture in sport, as it is an almost entirely male environment, where future professional players live in almost isolation since the beginning of adolescence, and lack openness on the rest of society: “The players have not gone to school much, read little, and lack the references to take a stand,” pointed out Anthony Mette, a psychologist, specialist in the mental preparation of athletes who had coordinated a study in 2013 on the subject.

If there is an alternative, it must be as representative

The Panamboyz and girlz collective, however, only sees positives in this swimsuit. “I won’t give up”, explains one of the members who believes that the symbol is unique and irreplaceable. But this is not the opinion of Jeff Puech, co-founder of the Foundation for Inclusive Sport, he calls on the authorities and assures not to do so “A taboo”. “The replacement solution must also be representative of the fight against homophobia in footballhe demands however. I’m not a marketing genius, but I think they will try to find the best possible compromise to have real visibility of this fight.”

Above all, the message must be correctly understood, insists Yohan Lemaire, creator of the Foot Ensemble association. He has participated in numerous workshops with professional club players. “For some, the rainbow color is off-putting. It brings to mind the promotion of homosexuality and obviously, that can bother some players. I’m not saying they’re right. But we shouldn’t refrain from think about taking them with us in the fight against homophobia to set an example for young people. To go further, at some point, we have to find compromises.” One of them could be to add another jersey to denounce racist and anti-Semitic discrimination.