A Paris Foot Gay player at a Pride event.
A soccer club composed of Muslims refused to play a scheduled league game this week against a gay-oriented team from Paris, saying it would clash with its religious beliefs, the gay French site Tetu reports. (The article is available only in French, but online translators and English wire service versions confirmed the story).
“Sorry, but from the name of your team, we can’t play against you,” read an e-mail sent by the Muslim team Creteil Bebel to Paris Foot Gay the day before the game. “Our beliefs are far more important than a football match.”
“It’s unbearable and intolerable” said Pascal Brethes, president and co-founder Paris Foot Gay. “This explicit refusal to meet with us is a first in the league in which we operate. … Many religions are represented in our team. There are Christians, Jews and Muslims, including our coach, who is wounded by this rejection. “
The local league the teams play in (which is an area rec league) condemned the move by the Muslim team and is considering action. SOS Racisme, a non-governmental anti-racist organization also condemned the action, as did Bertrand Delanoë, the openly gay mayor of Paris. But Tetu’s got a followup response from the a spokesman for Bebel, who refused to back down.
“As a practicing Muslim, I do not subscribe to their ideas. Now, if there’s anyone who felt offended or hurt, I want to apologize. “
Brethes was perplexed by this reaction, asking, “What would happen if teams refused to meet with a team of practicing Muslims?”
Brethes said this openly confirms the homophobia the team often enounters in more subtle ways, even though there are also straight players on the team. This is homophobia pure and simple and Bebel needs to be sanctioned and kicked out of the league. Let them play only against people as prejudiced as they are.
on Oct 6th, 2009 at 8:24 PM
aww yes, the religion of peace. imagine how hateful and prejudiced our world would be w/o Islam……
on Oct 7th, 2009 at 1:39 AM
I think the choice here is simple – the muslim team needs to be banned from the league. You’d think they’d realize that there was a homosexual friendly team in the league before they joined.
They certainly would not tolerate a team not playing against them based on their religion and/or race – so they should not be offended that people want them out of that league for their blatant bigotry and ignorance.
on Oct 7th, 2009 at 5:15 AM
Thank you for taking up this new from our website. It’s really a big affair in France, Everyone has condemned this behaviour even one member of the gouvernment.
on Oct 7th, 2009 at 6:54 AM
I always keep in mind that the most homophobic venues are those most likely to contain closeted homosexuals. The sex-segregated society of fundamentalist Islam has long been a breeding ground (if you will
) for same-sex activity within both sexes. Also note the “chaste love” between males that was not just tolerated but venerated in early Euro-north African Islam practiced in Spain and celebrated in the literature of that time:
http://www.religionfacts.com/homosexuality/islam.htm The cultures with the strongest history of condoning homosexual behavior tend to be the most sensitive in our fundamentalist era.
on Oct 7th, 2009 at 8:25 AM
Islam sucks. So does every other religion. Ban them all.
on Oct 7th, 2009 at 9:04 AM
Obviously this is a league composed of like minded individuals from a wide range of groups who form teams to come together to play football (soccer). Too bad the Muslim team can’t play against a gay team because they don’t agree with their “ideas”. I thought the “idea” was to play football. Are they afraid they would be humiliatingly defeated by the gay team? Would the gay rub off on them? Would they be enticed to join in? Or is it just another example of religious intolerance? The league would be right to sanction them and/or kick them out, because there’s no excuse for bigotry.
on Oct 8th, 2009 at 7:09 AM
if there was a team comprised of sex offenders and convicts would you all love to play with them. No bec by mere assocation means you are condoning their behavior. They have their RELIGIOUS BELIEFS. would you force a vegetarian into a butcher shop just to prove your point of tolerance. Would you let your daughter play with the boy next door whose dad was a registered sex offender. NO because certain people you do not associate with because of your beliefs and if you want to see how tolerant you really are..go find the nearest sex offender in your town and get him a sponge cake. Go ahead and test your tolerance.
on Oct 8th, 2009 at 7:21 AM
Christina – MY religious beliefs require that as a woman you should not speak unless spoken to. Also, please keep your entire body covered, and spend more time cleaning, cooking, and having children. Please don’t post here again because by doing so you are challenging my religious beliefs and I don’t want to condone this type of behavior from you.
on Oct 8th, 2009 at 2:24 PM
who let the wingnut lady in
on Oct 8th, 2009 at 3:27 PM
on Oct 8th, 2009 at 5:52 PM
Look on the bright side. At least they sent an e-mail to cancel the match instead of being violent.
on Oct 11th, 2009 at 4:56 AM
The Muslim Bebel team has now backed up, declaring the whole thing a pure “misunderstanding”.
Quotes from The Australian:
#”Mr Puybasset [Bebel's lawyer] regretted that the matter had grown out of all proportion but local league president Jacques Stouvenel said both clubs had been summoned to a meeting next Tuesday to assess the situation, warning that Bebel could be disciplined or even thrown out of the league.”
[The team director Zahir Belgharbi:] “We had rejected playing this match not on the grounds of homophobia, as we have been accused of doing, but simply because the name of the club (PFG) did not seem to us to reflect our vision of sport, ” said Mr Belgharbi, saying his club believed no ethnic or religious slant should be placed on footballing matters.
“We reacted by turning down the invitation from Paris Foot Gay for fear of it leading to an instrumentalisation on the part of this club in that it was highlighting the homosexuality of its players,” he added.#
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26193649-12377,00.html
on Oct 14th, 2009 at 4:33 PM
Woulda, shoulda, coulda, none of it matters now because the Muslim team has been permanently banned from the league. This from yahoo sports!
on Oct 15th, 2009 at 2:50 AM
That’s right. Tracy. Le Monde reported the same last night:
http://www.lemonde.fr/sport/article/2009/10/14/football-le-creteil-bebel-exclu-apres-son-refus-de-jouer-le-paris-foot-gay_1254024_3242.html
And ‘Positive Infinity’ comments the news in its blog:
http://www.vulcanhammer.org/2009/10/14/creteil-bebel-mosque-league-maybe/
on Mar 4th, 2010 at 2:31 AM
I think that the Muslims group shouldn’t have rejected the gay Paris soccer team. The focus is the soccer game, and they should have just played the game and not focus on the sexual orientation issue. However, I do have something to say on tolerance and open minded issue.
I’m a little annoyed with the fact that everyone talks about being tolerant and open mind, yet you can’t even demonstate that yourselves. You find fault in other religions and condemn them because they’re not being “tolerant” according to yours and the universal standard of tolerance. I have known Muslims to be very strong and firm in their beliefs, and they have the right to show what they believe in. What they believe will contradicts with what you believe, and it is consider “intolerance”? I actually find it more intolerance and closed minded that you (by yours and the universal standard) would call them the intolerant one.
I understand where the line draws when it comes to respecting other beliefs and treating the other person as a human being (very important – dignity), but calling muslims (or any other religion) “closed minded” and “intolerance” is very hypocritical. Next time, before you call someone “intolerant” because they have a different worldview, it’s better for you to THINK first before trying to IMPOSE your worldview on others saying you have the standard of tolerance.