Monaco have apologised to the French football federation after one of their players covered up an anti-homophobia message on his shirt and say he did it for ‘religious reasons’.
All Ligue 1 clubs wore the campaign logo on their kits over the weekend and players posed in front of a banner supporting the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia, and Transphobia.
Mohamed Camara stuck white tape over the top of the logo on his chest and also covered up the league’s rainbow badge on his sleeve during Monaco’s 4-0 win over Nantes.
French sports minister Amelie Oudea-Castera described Camara’s actions as ‘unacceptable’ and called on the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) to punish Monaco.
‘It is unacceptable behaviour,’ she said on French radio station RTL. ‘I had the chance to tell the LFP what I thought about it and I think such behaviour must be subject to the strongest sanctions against the player and the club which allowed it to happen.’
Speaking after the match, Monaco coach Adi Hutter said the club would be carrying out an ‘internal discussion’ with Camara after he ‘personally intervened’ with his gesture.
Monaco’s general manager Thiago Scuro has now issued a statement apologising to the LFP and urging them not to hand punishments despite admitting it has been a ‘sad episode’ for the club.
‘As an organisation, we support the league,’ he said. ‘I called the CEO of the LFP, Arnaud Rouger, to apologise yesterday morning.
‘Mo has his religious reasons to do what he did. As you can imagine, it is a very sensitive topic to discuss as we have to respect religion.
‘We, as a club, are very sad about this episode. We hope to show this and show that we don’t support this. We will manage it internally.
‘What happened this year will not happen again. This episode should not scratch the club’s reputation.
‘It doesn’t represent who we are, as AS Monaco. Not afraid of punishment. It could happen but we hope not. It doesn’t feel fair to punish the whole organisation but I respect the opinions.’
Camara, who scored a penalty in Monaco’s victory on Sunday, has made 57 appearances for the French club and has 24 caps for African nation Mali.
Although same-sex sexual activity is not illegal in Mali, LGBTQ people face widespread discrimination among the broader population and same-sex marriage was outlawed in 2023.
Monaco finished second in Ligue 1 this season – nine points behind champions PSG – to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
