Homophobic banners in L1: a stand temporarily closed in Montpellier

A stand at the Mosson stadium in Montpellier will be closed as a precaution after the deployment on Sunday in Ligue 1 of homophobic banners.

The sanction fell on Wednesday from the Disciplinary Committee of the League (LFP), which placed the file under investigation.

The Hérault club will therefore receive Paris SG on Wednesday February 1, without its ultra supporters, traditionally gathered in this “Étang de Thau” stand.

The final decision "will be made at the end of the session on Wednesday February 8, 2023", specifies the disciplinary committee, meeting three days after Montpellier-Nantes (0-3).

The instruction must study "incidents", "the use and throwing of pyrotechnic devices" as well as "banners of a discriminatory nature".

An investigation was opened on Monday by the Montpellier prosecutor's office for "public insults on the grounds of sexual orientation", "introduction, possession and use of rockets or fireworks in a sports arena" and "throw of a projectile presenting a danger to personal safety”.

On Wednesday, three associations, Stop Homophobia, Mousse and Adhéos, filed a complaint for "homophobic insult" against the supporters who held up the banners.

"The objective is to tell this fringe of supporters that homophobia has no place in the stadiums and that if they hold homophobic speech through songs or banners, there will be criminal sanctions" , explained their lawyer Me Deshoulières.

The ministry on the front line since 2019

These homophobic insults, condemned Monday by the Montpellier club, had led to several political reactions, including that of the Minister of Sports Amélie Oudéa-Castéra.

The minister denounced on Twitter "homophobic acts which must disappear from the enclosures of football and sport".

Strongest condemnation of these images, these words, these homophobic acts which must disappear from the enclosures of football and sport.

Their perpetrators must be identified, punished and permanently kept away from our stadiums.

@RomeIsabelle@LFPfr #MHSCFCN pic.twitter.com/t01baWROLM

– Amélie Oudéa-Castéra (@AOC1978) January 16, 2023

The fight against homophobia in professional football was made a priority at the start of the 2019-2020 season, in the wake of former Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu, in favor of being very firm on this subject.

Several Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 matches were then briefly interrupted to put an end to homophobic chants or the deployment of offensive banners.

Since then, such banners have become rare in the Championship stadiums, and the LFP Disciplinary Committee has rarely had to look into the case of discriminatory songs or banners.

The Disciplinary Committee also imposed sanctions on Montpellier players Elye Wahi and Wahbi Khazri, both expelled during the match.

The first received a three-game suspension, one of which was suspended, the second two-game suspension.