Paris Saint-Germain’s Ligue 1 game with Metz on Friday was briefly halted after a homophobic banner was held up by fans.
The referee brought play at the Stade Saint-Symphorien to a stop in the 20th minute, just a few moments after Angel Di Maria had given the French champions the lead from the penalty spot.
A banner pictured behind the goal read: “PSG, LFP [Ligue 1], let me sing to you, to tell you to go f*** yourselves! I won’t be on TV, because my words are not very gay.”
The messages prompted match official Frank Schneider to stop play for a few minutes while the banner was removed.
When play resumed, Eric Choupo-Moting netted his third goal in two matches to double PSG’s lead as Thomas Tuchel’s side went on to secure a 2-0 victory to temporarily return to the top of the table.
(Image: REUTERS/Vincent Kessler)
It was the fourth French game this season to witness homophobic actions from fans and came just days after a similar incident caused a clash between Nice and Marseille to be paused.
The French Football Federation has pledged to crack down on homophobic chanting at grounds this season and has encouraged referees to stop matches if such insults are heard.
Wednesday’s game between Nice and Marseille witnessed a 10-minute delay after players from both sides were escorted from the pitch during the first half after repeated attempts to stop homophobic chanting from supporters.
(Image: JEAN-CHRISTOPHE VERHAEGEN/AFP/Getty Images)
After that incident, Nice boss Patrick Vieira said: “The referee was right to stop the match.
“These are unacceptable things. The message was clear, and the referee had no choice.
“He might have given us a little more time to try to go to the supporters and ask them to remove the banner – but he explained things that I understand very well.”
