Europe 1 with AFP 4:18 p.m., May 18, 2022

PSG midfielder Idrissa Gana Gueye was called on Wednesday by the CNE to explain his absence from the action against homophobia during the 37th day of Ligue 1. The Senegalese international, who was not injured that evening, has not yet spoken.

The player is strongly suspected of willfully dodging the operation.

Idrissa Gana Gueye still in turmoil: highly criticized in France, supported in Senegal, the Paris Saint-Germain player was summoned on Wednesday to explain himself for his supposed refusal to join an action against homophobia.

The Senegalese international midfielder is strongly suspected of having withdrawn for not wearing the flocked jersey in the colors of the LGBT pride rainbow.

On Wednesday, he received a summons from the National Ethics Council (CNE) of the French Football Federation (FFF), a body which nevertheless has no disciplinary power.

"One of two things, either these assumptions are unfounded and we invite you without delay to express yourself in order to silence these rumors", writes the CNE to him in a letter consulted Wednesday by AFP.

"Either these rumors are correct. In this case, we ask you to be aware of the scope of your gesture and the very serious error committed", continues the letter signed Patrick Anton, president of the CNE, revealed by L'Équipe.

The CNE, for example, suggests that Gana Gueye "accompany" her answer "with a photo of you wearing the jersey in question".

An absence that "validates discriminatory behavior"

On Saturday, during the 37th day of Ligue 1, the Professional Football League (LFP) organized an operation entitled "Gays or heterosexuals, we all wear the same jersey" where the numbers of L1 and L2 players were painted in arc- in sky.

Gueye did not play and was not injured, PSG coach Mauricio Pochettino said that evening.

"This absence (...) is very widely interpreted as a refusal to participate in this operation to raise awareness and fight against discrimination", writes the CNE.

"By refusing to participate in this collective operation, you are in fact validating discriminatory behavior, the refusal of the other, and not only against the LGBTQI + community."

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“There is little doubt about his intentions”

The Ethics Council concludes its message to the African champion by hoping "that this letter will make you aware of the need to clarify your situation or make amends, as the case may be".

Contacted by AFP, the player's entourage said that Gana Gueye would speak soon about this controversy.

PSG, for its part, remained discreet, recalling the club's "long-standing commitment to the fight against homophobia and discrimination".

From a source close to the locker room, we only mention an individual choice of the player.

It seems difficult to imagine that the club sanctions the player, who could then find himself in a complex legal situation with regard to labor law.

Already in 2021, Gana Gueye had not played the match of the day dedicated to the fight against homophobia organized by the LFP.

He had mentioned gastroenteritis.

"He had already done it last year. There is little doubt about his intentions," Bertrand Lambert, president of Panam Boyz and Girlz United, a club open to diversity, told AFP.

Many supporters posted on social networks

In Senegal, the case also has a lot of echo, but the general tone of the judgments differs.

Gueye and his compatriots from the Senegalese team, African champions in February for the first time in the country's history, are adored, and many supporters of the PSG player have been posted on social networks.

The Senegalese president himself, Macky Sall, supported the "Lion" in a tweet: "I support Idrissa Gana Gueye. His religious convictions must be respected."

I support Idrissa Gana Gueye.

His religious convictions must be respected.

— Macky Sall (@Macky_Sall) May 17, 2022

In this 95% Muslim country and very practicing, homosexuality, punishable by a sentence of one to five years in prison, is widely considered as deviance.

Writer El Hamidou Kassé said on Twitter that he supported Gueye "in the name of the principle of free belief and respect for differences."

The Senegalese movement "Y en a marre", active in particular in the defense of democracy, "vigorously denounces this demonization of which Idrissa Gueye is a victim", in a press release.

He calls on "the Ministry of Sports and the Senegalese Football Federation to provide official support to Gana in these difficult times".