France’s professional football league, the LFP, and the LICRA anti-racism association announced on Tuesday the launch of an online form for reporting "any type of racism and discrimination" as they take place in stadia.
The form seeks to “enable anyone present in our stadia, whether a witness or a victim, to report a discriminatory (racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, sexist or other) act,” according to a press release issued by the league. “Any report will trigger proceedings defined in close collaboration between the LFP and LICRA.”
"Legal and disciplinary proceedings will be monitored and documented so as to combat acts of discrimination in professional football stadia in a targeted manner,” the LFP stated, adding that LICRA “will also ensure the protection of personal data.”
In late March, French Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu had described as “inadmissible” homophobic chants heard at the last PSG-OM classic at the Parc des Princes, as Parisian supporters hurled degrading insults such as "rats", "fags" and "assholes" at their Marseilles rivals.
In mid-April, the French Championship match between Dijon and Amiens had to be interrupted for minutes after racist insults were shouted at Amiens captain Prince Gouano.
In an interview with Radio France Info on Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron said he was in favour of interrupting matches whenever racist or homophobic shouting broke out in stadia.
The form, along with supporting information, can be viewed at www.licra.org/lfp.
The Brussels Times
