Monaco's Mohamed Camara gets four-match suspension
The Malian covered up the anti-homophobia badge in Monaco's last Ligue 1 match
MONACO — Ligue 1 recently gave Monaco midfielder Mohamed Camara a four-match suspension for covering up the anti-homophobia badge in Monaco’s 4-0 win over Nantes.
Camara, a practicing Muslim, covered up the league’s anti-homophobia symbol — the word ‘homophobie’ with a cross through it — with white tape. He also refused to pose for the team’s prematch picture.
Camara scored in Monaco’s 4-0 win against Nantes, which secured a second-placed finish in Ligue 1 and a Champions League berth.
The Mali international attracted criticism from several French institutions. "Homophobia is not an opinion, it's a crime. And homophobia kills,” Minister of Equality Aurore Bergé wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “There must be strict punishment for Mohamed Camara."
Sports minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra called for ‘the strongest sanctions’ for Camara. Camara wasn’t named in the squad for Ligue 1’s previous World Day Against Homophobia Event in 2023. All Ligue 1 clubs wore the logo on their kits on the final matchday of the season, with some sporting special rainbow editions of their regular kits.
“First of all, I would like to say that we, as a club, support the operation organized by the league," Monaco coach Adi Hütter told the BBC. “For his part, it was a personal initiative. There will be an internal discussion with him about this situation. I will not comment further."
The LFP, the body overseeing French domestic football, gave Camara a four-match ban for ‘to carry out one or more actions to raise awareness of the fight against homophobia.’
However, the Malian Football Federation [FMF] issued a letter in support of the midfielder. “Players are citizens like any other whose fundamental rights must be protected in all circumstances," the FMF said in a statement. Camara will join Mali in a pair of crucial World Cup qualifying fixtures against Ghana and Madagascar.