Row over homophobia in local French soccer league - redux

There has been yet another twist in the tale of two local football clubs in France who came to blows (off the pitch) over claims of homophobia.

You might remember that the story first hit the headlines at the beginning of the month when Créteil Bébel refused at the last minute to play Paris Foot Gay (PFG).

Both are amateur clubs playing in a local league in the French capital.

Créteil Bébel is made up of practising Moslems. PFG is a team of both gay and straight players whose aim is to fight homophobia in the sport, be that on the pitch or from the stands, and promote tolerance.

Claims of homophobia from one side were met with the defence from the other that there had been a "misunderstanding" in the interpretation of what Zahir Belgharbi, one of the directors of Créteil Bébel, had been quoted as saying in the media.

While insisting that he wasn't against his team taking to the field against a side that included both gay and straight players, Belgharbi said he had a problem with the name "Paris Gay Foot" which by implication (as far he was concerned) seemed deliberately provocative

"We don't call our club by a Moslem name for example - why should others?" he said.

PFG complained to those responsible for running the league in which both teams play, la Commission Football Loisirs (CFL).

And then a lawyer for Créteil Bébel, Bénédicte Puybassant, stepped into the fray to reiterate on behalf of the players that their refusal to play had nothing to do with homophobia but was "simply because the name of the club (PFG) doesn't reflect our vision of what the sport is about."

"They had," she said, "regretted their initial decision and had proposed to reschedule the match."

But events overtook them somewhat when the CFL took the decision to red card the side and kick the club out of the league for "refusing a match and making discriminatory comments."

End of story you might think. Except it wasn't.

An attempt to reconcile players from the two clubs was proposed in which they would play collectively against a team of former professional footballers, politicians and celebrities all in the name of "fighting against all forms of discrimination".

But once again the idea has apparently been turned down by Créteil Bébel.

Apparently because in fact Belgharbi went as far as to deny that there had been any approach made to play in the first place.

"We have nothing to gain by playing a match with 'people' (celebrities) in front of the media," he said.

"We prefer to remain anonymous."

A final refusal which brought about a prompt response from PFG.

"We understand that the players from Créteil Bébel wish to return as quickly as possible back into the anonymity they should never have left in the first place," PFG says on its site.

"Therefore, we will not be playing together in a match to combat discriminations in all its forms," it continues.

"We deeply regret it."

The match - without the participation of the Créteil Bébel players - is still scheduled to go ahead on November 14 at the Charlety stadium in Paris.