Idrissa Gueye seen as a ‘hero’ in Senegal for boycotting rainbow flag

Callum Boyle

Gueye missed PSG’s win against Montpellier due to his boycott

Idrissa Gueye has been “perceived as a hero” in his homeland of Senegal after he allegedly refused to wear rainbow colours on his Paris Saint-Germain shirt last month, claimed Bacary Cisse.

Gueye missed PSG’s 4-0 win against Montpellier in May despite travelling with the squad. PSG boss, Mauricio Pochettino, later claimed that the midfielder wasn’t included for “personal reasons” and that his absence wasn’t injury-related.

That weekend of fixtures in France was dedicated to the ‘World Day Against Homophobia’ campaign, which saw all players’ numbers printed in the colours of the rainbow flag. Team captains also wore rainbow armbands as a further show of support for the LGBTQ+ community.

👕 On World Day Against Homophobia, our jerseys will have the rainbow flag, symbol of peace and diversity of the LGBT movement.

#MHSCPSG pic.twitter.com/xMTu3l2cRY

— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) May 14, 2022

RMC Sport later said that the 32-year-old didn’t play because he did not want to wear the rainbow flag. It was also pointed out that Gueye had also missed the same fixture the in the season before, citing ‘stomach problems’ as the reason for his absence.

Gueye was supported in his homeland

People around the world were left shocked by the allegations but in his homeland, Gueye received unwavering support for his actions.

Cisse, who works as an advisor to newly-announced Bayern Munich signing Sadio Mane, revealed that his decision was something that made him a hero.

“It’s a misunderstanding,” he said, as per Goal.

“We must not forget that Gueye was born in Senegal. He grew up there, he was educated there.

“We respect everything that others do, but we don’t follow them in their culture. Culturally, no one would have understood if he had done anything other than what he did. He’s not the only one.

“Today, Gueye has the total support of all Senegalese, of all Africans. In this case, we must not stigmatise the boy. He cannot justify this gesture. He was perceived as a hero in Senegal, of course. For us, Gueye is a hero.

“If Gueye had done otherwise, what would we have said? We would have been much more shocked.”

Several of his international teammates, including: Kalidou Koulibaly, Ismaila Sarr, Cheikhou Kouyate and Nampalys Mendy all posted messages of support for the former Everton man on social media before many of them deleted following backlash.