The French football league was embroiled in controversy last week after several players refused to take part in a gesture of support against homophobia. One of them caught in the eye of the storm is Egyptian.
FC Nantes’ Mustafa Mohamed refused to represent Nantes in a match against Toulouse on 14 May due to the game being part of a league-wide campaign against homophobia and which included team uniforms featuring a rainbow-themed decoration.
In return, Nantes fined Mohamed for his refusal to participate in the match.
On the day of the match, the Egypt international, who is Muslim, explained his decision not to play in a social media post:
“I don’t want to argue at all but I have to state my position,” Mohamed, 25, tweeted.
“I respect all differences. I respect all beliefs and convictions. This respect extends to others but also includes respect for my personal beliefs.
“Given my roots, my culture, the importance of my convictions and beliefs, it was not possible for me to participate in this campaign. I hope that my decision will be respected, as well as my wish not to argue about this and that everyone is treated with respect.”
Mustafa’s wish to be respected is not remarkable but apparently some people do not want to grant it. French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera weighed in on the controversy in support of the campaign. “I think it is the responsibility of the clubs to take sanctions,” she said. “During such an operation, which involves all the clubs on the basic subject of non-discrimination, you have to show up.”
French government spokesman Olivier Veran called the decision by certain players not to play “rubbish” and “anachronistic”. “We live in a world today... in which everyone is free to love who they want,” Veran told television station France 2.
We’ve been down this road before. Gay rights descended on last year’s Qatar’s World Cup with a vengeance. In some cases, the issue overtook the reported 6,500 migrant workers who died in Qatar building its stadiums.
Nothing has changed since last year. We said it then and we’ll say it again: “Sexual deviations of any kind are banned in Islam. They are a sin. It is haram. There are no ifs, ands or buts about it.
“To shove gay rights down the throat of an Islamic country is not acceptable.”
It is certainly not acceptable to shove it down the throat of a Muslim athlete.
Homophobia is a dislike of or prejudice against gay people. Mohamed did not say he dislikes gays nor did he say he was against them. All he said, in not so many words, was “count me out.”
That is not asking for too much but, to be sure, France has had a historically tense relationship with Islam, especially Muslim female attire, from the hijab to the niqab to the burkini. All were curtailed or outright banned in certain places to uphold France’s secular values whose key principle, by the way, is the freedom of religious exercise.
This is all fine and French citizens and foreigners within should obey and respect their laws; not doing so can lead to serious legal ramifications. They won’t go to jail for disrespecting an opinion or a position but that doesn’t mean opinions and positions should not be respected.
When a high-ranking French government official characterises not participating in an anti- homophobia campaign as “rubbish”, that is not only handing out free lessons in morality, which is not his job, but does not respect either Mohamed or the Islamic faith or the estimated five million people who make up France’s Muslim population, the largest in Europe.
As well as his detractors in France, Mohamed had his supporters. When asked about Mohamed’s decision, Nantes’ coach Pierre Aristouy said after the game: “Mohamed was torn between the desire to play and the issues he encountered during the Ramadan month. It’s a setback.”
Nantes skipper Samuel Moutoussamy said “everyone has their own choices. He is our brother and friend and we support him. It was complicated for him, a difficult choice for him, his family, and those close to him. We support him in all circumstances.”
Mohamed also wasn’t the only player to refuse to take part in the match. Toulouse left out five players who did not want to wear the shirt.
Mohamed and others should also take heart from last year’s World Cup in Qatar when world governing body FIFA threatened seven European teams with sanctions if they wore “One Love” rainbow armbands.
A Nantes club statement ironically said it condemned “in the strongest terms” the threats made against Mohamed and his family before and after the game.
We must thank Nantes for its concern over the well-being of Mohamed, so why the fine? And why put him in a situation in which he is skewered on social media?
And as if to rub it in, Nantes added that the financial penalty, whose amount has not been disclosed, would be donated to a charity that supports members of the LGBTQ community.
It is not a geographical coincidence that the gay rights issue seems to stem mainly from North America and western Europe. The issue is hardly an issue in all of South America, all of Asia and all of Africa.
But in the West, LGBTQ issues have become such a well-oiled, planned, apparently progressive liberal campaign, and was so over the top in Qatar’s World Cup, as to suggest they are being orchestrated for the explicit purpose of forcing people to accept something that goes against their beliefs, religious or otherwise.
Mohamed was allowed to play in the following game on 20 May. He came on as a substitute only five minutes from the start but Nantes suffered a 3-0 loss to Montpellier.
The decision only to fine, rather than suspend, Mohamed showed that Nantes will not deprive themselves of a player who can help them remain in the top division. Mohamed, who joined Nantes from Turkish side Galatasaray on a season-long loan last summer, is the team’s top scorer in Ligue 1 with eight goals as they fight for their league survival. As of writing, Nantes are in 17th place in the 20-team table with 33 points from 36 games with two games left. Auxerre are 16th with 34 points and three games left. In the French league, the last four teams are relegated.
The Mohamed controversy started and ended after one game. But looking ahead, next year France is hosting the Olympics. Organisers of the Paris Games say they intend to seize on the Olympic spotlight to push a broader message that LGBTQ rights need to progress outside France, too.
If the gay community insists on spreading their message of inclusion, diversity and tolerance — which should but does not seem to embrace all kinds of people — there is no need to spread the butter on both sides of the toast.
Leave out those who want to be left out.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 25 May, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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