French gay footballers snubbed by Muslim opposition

An amateur club of gay footballers in Paris said today its members were victims of homophobia when a team of Muslim players refused to play them.

The Paris Foot Gay team says it received an email on Saturday from the Creteil Bebel club cancelling a match scheduled for the following day.

“Because of the principles of our team, which is a team of devout Muslims, we can’t play against you,” the email said, according to Paris Foot Gay. The email continued with: “Our convictions are much more important than a simple football match.”

Paris Foot Gay said in a statement that it asked the amateur league to impose sanctions on Creteil Bebel.

“This team refused to show up simply so it didn’t have to play against homosexuals,” the statement said.

Zahir Belgarbi, a spokesman for Creteil Bebel, told France-Info radio that he apologised if “anyone felt upset or hurt” about the decision.

But “as a Muslim, I have the right to decide not to play against homosexuals because I don’t agree with their ideas”, he said.