While the National Ethics Council (CNE) of the French Football Federation (FFF) asks Paris SG player Idrissa Gana Gueye to explain whether or not he refused to wear a jersey in LGBT colors, the player received the day before, Tuesday May 17, the support of the Senegalese president Macky Sall who asks for the respect of “religious beliefs” of the footballer. Gana Gueye is targeted by critics in France after the refusal which is lent to him to join the fight against homophobia and to wear a rainbow jersey. Like last year, the PSG player did not play Saturday against Montpellier (4-0) on the day dedicated to the fight against homophobia, a new defection which drew criticism in France, but also support in his country, Senegal.
I support Idrissa Gana Gueye. His religious convictions must be respected.
— Macky Sall (@Macky_Sall) May 17, 2022
The Senegalese president’s message was a big hit on Twitter and has been shared nearly 19,000 times. In Senegal, Gueye and his colleagues in the selection are adored. The PSG player was part of the team that won the country’s first African Cup of Nations (CAN) in February in Cameroon, against Egypt. In this 95% Muslim and very practicing country, homosexual relations are prohibited. The existing law states that “Will be punished by imprisonment of one to five years and a fine of 100,000 to 1,500,000 francs (152 to 2,286 euros) anyone who has committed an immodest or unnatural act with an individual of his sex”. Macky Sall, whose country is often cited as an example of the rule of law in Africa, has always invoked the specificities of Senegal to refuse the decriminalization of homosexuality.
Messages of support for the defensive midfielder of PSG and the national team continued to flow into Senegal. Sports Minister Matar Bâ defended Gueye in a statement to the press on Monday evening, stating that “when you sign (a contract with a club), it’s to play football, it’s not to promote anything or put aside your convictions”.
Dear compatriot @IGanaGueye you have the support of the Senegalese people #goGaindé pic.twitter.com/YVm6RmDJtx
— Matar BA the Official (@BaaMatar) May 17, 2022
Former Prime Minister Mahammed Boun Abdallah Dionne encouraged Gueye by telling him: “Hold on, Gaïndé”, lion in the Wolof language, nickname of the national football team, in a message on Twitter accompanied by verses from the Koran. The writer and intellectual Boubacar Boris Diop, winner of the very prestigious Neustadt Prize, affirms his “total solidarity with Idrissa Gana Gueye”on Twitter.
Total solidarity with Idrissa Gana Guèye. They are strange, these people who go to such lengths to impose their opinions on everyone. In the name, supreme stupidity, of freedom of expression. Do they even know that they make people laugh more and more?
— Boubacar Boris Diop (@bboris_diop) May 17, 2022
Many Senegalese put the Senegalese president’s message of support or photos of Gueye on a pilgrimage to Mecca in Whatsapp status on Tuesday.
Idrissa Gana Gueye has not spoken publicly about the reasons for his absence from the field against Montpellier. The player’s entourage, contacted by AFP, refused to explain the reasons for this absence. On the other hand, they are clear for associations fighting against homophobia. “He had already done it last year. There is little doubt about his intentions”, believes Bertrand Lambert, president of Panam Boyz and Girlz United, a club open to diversity.
Idrissa Gueye also did not play last year, citing gastroenteritis. On Saturday, Paris SG coach Mauricio Pochettino spoke of “personal reasons”stating that his player “wasn’t hurt”.