Article by Darius Stanescu – Published on Friday, June 6, 2025, 18:02 / Updated on Friday, June 6, 20:02
Lyon's midfielder, Serbian Nemanja Matic, received a two -stage suspension after covering with an adhesive tape a LGBT message from his shirt, notes BBC.
36 -year -old Serb He hid the message during Lyon's victory with 2-0 against Angers on May 17.
For 5 years, LGBT messages have been part of a Ligue 1. Usually, players are asked to wear symbols in the colors of the rainbow, and LGBT banners are displayed on the stadiums.
However, the former midfielder of Manchester United and Chelsea, Nemanja Matic, and Le Havre's striker Ahmed Hassan, 32, covered the messages on their sleeves with adhesive tape, notes the source.
Ligue 1 suspended the two for two stages
Matic's contract with Lyon expires at the end of June, and he has not yet reached an agreement to extend the contract with the French club.
The annual awareness campaign has faced resistance in recent years, some players invoking religious beliefs in order not to participate.
The Nantes and Egypt's striker, 27 -year -old Mostafa Mohamed, withdrew from the decisive match for relegation against Montpellier, in the last stage of the season.
“I believe in mutual respect – the respect we owe to the others, but also the respect we owe to our beliefs. For me, there are deeply rooted values, related to my past and beliefs, which make my participation in this initiative difficult,” said Mohamed, Nantes's player, on Instagram.
Last season, Mohamed Camara, at that time a midfielder in Monaco, 25 years old, was suspended four stages because he covered with an adhesive tape an anti-homophobia logo on his shirt.
Some players from Toulouse missed a match in 2023, the club declaring that they “expressed their disagreement with the association of their image with the colors of the rainbow, representing the LGBT movement.”
