French Nantes sanctions Mostafa for refusing rainbow shirt

The French club Nantes decided to punish the Egyptian striker Mostafa Mohamed who refused to participate in the French League campaign to support rainbow shirt. Mohamed was excluded from the team sheet in Nantes’ match against Toulouse in the French League, on Sunday. The French newspaper L’Equipe reported that the reason for Mohamed’s exclusion was his refusal to wear his team’s shirt in the match, whose numbers were colored in a rainbow in support of LGBT rights. Nantes fell into a goalless draw against its host Toulouse, in the match that was held on Sunday in the 35th round of the French Football League. In statements after the game, Nantes’ coach said: “Mohamed was hesitant about playing against Toulouse because of the difficulties and problems he faced during the month of Ramadan.” “His punishment is in the hands of the club’s management, which will decide to impose a penalty on him or not.” French media reported that Mohamed refused to wear the jersey and stayed at the hotel during his team’s game against Toulouse, which ended in a scoreless draw. “I hope that my decision will be respected, as well as my wish not to be involved in any controversy about this and that everyone is treated with respect,” he concluded. “There was this hazard of the delayed match and Mostafa's decision. He was very torn between the desire to play and the problems he had encountered during the Ramadan period. It is an annoyance. My opinion is tolerance in relation to all religious and sexual issues with this day against homophobia,” he told the club’s official website after the game.