Monaco midfielder Mohamed Kamara has been handed a four-match ban for covering up an anti-gay message written on his shirt during a French Ligue 1 match.
In their last Ligue 1 game against Nantes, Monaco’s players had the red cross on their jerseys with a ‘gay’ symbol, but 24-year-old Camara used white tape to cover the symbol on his shirt.
The Malian international also did not take part in the pre-match photo shoot between Monaco and Nantes players, who stood in front of a banner marking International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia and Transphobia.
Kamara scored a penalty in a 4-0 win for Monaco, who finished second in Ligue 1 this season – nine points behind champions Paris Saint-Germain.
On Thursday, LFP Kamara will be suspended for four games.
The league said in a statement: “After hearing from the player, Mohamed Kamara, and stating during the meeting that he is unwilling to take one or more steps to combat homophobia, the commission has decided to impose a four-game suspension.”
Camara hides the logo that appears on all Monaco shirts (NICOLAS TUCAT/AFP via Getty Images)
The decision comes 10 days after French sports minister Amelie Oueda-Caster called for the “strongest punishment” to be imposed on the player.
“It’s unacceptable behavior.” Oudea-Castera told French radio station RTL. After the match. Last night I had the opportunity to tell the Ligue de Football Professional (LFP) what I thought about the matter and I think that such behavior should be severely punished for the player and the club.
Monaco general manager Thiago Scuro He said after the event. The club said it “supports the league’s actions” and that LFP chief Arnaud Ruger has called on the club to “apologise”.
“Moe did it for religious reasons,” Scuro said. “He is very sensitive on all levels, because we have to respect all religions. However, as an organization, we are deeply saddened by this episode and would like to state that we do not support this.
“I want to say that we as a club support the operation organized by the league,” Monaco head coach Eddie Hutter said after the match. On his part, it was a personal initiative. An internal discussion will be held with him about this situation. I will not comment further.
Clubs in France’s top two divisions have shown their support for the LGBTQ+ community by customizing their shirts with the rainbow symbol for one matchday in each of the last three seasons as part of the league’s campaign.
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Last year, managers wore rainbow armbands and players wore shirts displaying the colors of the rainbow, which were auctioned off to raise money for anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination charities. In the year In 2022 and 2021, the shirts featured rainbow-colored numbers on the back.
The campaign has already faced some opposition. Last season, Toulouse sent off some players to face Nantes after the club disagreed with an anti-gay campaign.
In the year He was criticized by many politicians in France but received support in his home country of Senegal, where homosexuality is illegal.
(Nicolas Tucat/AFP via Getty Images)