Idrissa Gueye - now gone

[Flin5tone]

People want to make a stand yet will probably watch the World Cup. For me , we should not be taking part in it , the hypocrisy stinks and if England REALLY wanted to they could refuse to play in the tournament.

But elite football is all about money and greed 

[cdbearsfan]

For me you are either supportive or you’re against gay rights. There’s no middle ground, and again he absolutely has a choice. He’s exercised that choice and I personally think he’s a twat for the stance he’s taken.

Spot on, Paul. The same goes for racism. There’s no middle ground unless you're a twat, obviously.

Wow that shows up how modern society has become so polarised - and some could say that is why there is so much hate now on both sides of any argument.

"If you do not agree with me then YOU are wrong"

If you're a racist, you are wrong. Surely that's not particularly controversial?

[Rudy Can't Fail]

People want to make a stand yet will probably watch the World Cup. For me , we should not be taking part in it , the hypocrisy stinks and if England REALLY wanted to they could refuse to play in the tournament.

But elite football is all about money and greed 

Absolutely, Fred. I'd love to see a criteria countries have to meet other than capacity to hold the event set by FIFA.

[LeonW]

I want to be careful how I word this, so to start off I will say I am a supporter of the rainbow campaign and Villa and Proud.  I thought the rainbow laces campaign was brilliant and bought a few pairs myself.  I also have a Villa and Proud badge which I was happy to wear to games (before I misplaced it)

With that established, my initial reaction was that it was really poor by Gueye.  But we have to be careful here, all he has chosen to do is to not wear something.  So far as I am aware he has not made any descriminatatory statements or taken any descriminatatory actions.  The whole point of the rainbow campaign (and the kneeling etc) is to raise awareness and show support for the causes in question.  The fact that there are those of us who postively want to do this is surely what it is all about?  If it then becomes an enforced uniform or gesture, then in my view it loses some of that impact. 

So whilst we can all read between the lines here, the truth is all he has chosen to do is not support something.  I wouldn't be particularly happy if it was a Villa player, but equally I think we should be cautious about demanding that punishments are dished out etc.  People must be allowed to have their own thoughts and opinions so long as they don't overstep a line and encourage hate.  I don't think what Gueye has done here (or not done) crosses that line.  Now if he goes beyond this and starts making homophobic statements etc, then that woud be a different matter entirely.   

That over simplifies it though, if it was choosing not to attend an optional event organised by the club then that would be one thing but by refusing to play what he's actually done is refuse to do his job.

I don't think the law or french football authorities can or should do anything but I'd be surprised if PSG aren't very annoyed with him.

Is anyone else wondering about the inherent contradiction in PSG (with their ownership) supporting such a campaign? Bit like Newcastle's proposed new away kit having the rainbow logo on.

[paul_e]

For me you are either supportive or you’re against gay rights. There’s no middle ground, and again he absolutely has a choice. He’s exercised that choice and I personally think he’s a twat for the stance he’s taken.

Spot on, Paul. The same goes for racism. There’s no middle ground unless you're a twat, obviously.

Wow that shows up how modern society has become so polarised - and some could say that is why there is so much hate now on both sides of any argument.

"If you do not agree with me then YOU are wrong"

So what is the middle ground on racism? Is it ok to be a bit racist? Is it ok for  people in certain demographics to be racist?

What you're doing here is suggesting that disliking someone because of something they've done (refuse to wear a rainbow shirt) is the same as disliking the idea of LGBT+ representation in sport. That's pretty much direct from the turmp playbook of criticising antifa/blm/etc.

[olaftab]

Exactly that - he can make that choice and face the consequences for that choice. Personally I think he’s a twat.

I agree with Paul, and also think he's a twat.

I don’t think Paul is a twat🙊

[Drummond]

Exactly that - he can make that choice and face the consequences for that choice. Personally I think he’s a twat.

I agree with Paul, and also think he's a twat.

Well I think Paul's ok.

[PaulWinch again]

For me you are either supportive or you’re against gay rights. There’s no middle ground, and again he absolutely has a choice. He’s exercised that choice and I personally think he’s a twat for the stance he’s taken.

Spot on, Paul. The same goes for racism. There’s no middle ground unless you're a twat, obviously.

Wow that shows up how modern society has become so polarised - and some could say that is why there is so much hate now on both sides of any argument.

"If you do not agree with me then YOU are wrong"

I’d say I’m pretty balanced on most things, but when it comes to things like racism or homophobia it’s pretty clear. You are either on the right side of it or the wrong side of it.

[Toronto Villa]

While it's important to respect opinions and perspectives, you have to be a massive fucking prejudiced bell end in 2022 to go as far as refuse to wear a kit with the rainbow flag.

[Drummond]

Unkess he says something we'll never know for sure.

Perhaps he was concerned about the reaction in his country, given its illegal, and that was concerned he'd be arrested etc.

However, I think that's being kind to him.

[cdbearsfan]

He was also happy to play wearing a beer advert on his shirt when he was at Everton, so his religious beliefs seem to be quite selective.

[edgysatsuma89]

I want to be careful how I word this, so to start off I will say I am a supporter of the rainbow campaign and Villa and Proud.  I thought the rainbow laces campaign was brilliant and bought a few pairs myself.  I also have a Villa and Proud badge which I was happy to wear to games (before I misplaced it)

With that established, my initial reaction was that it was really poor by Gueye.  But we have to be careful here, all he has chosen to do is to not wear something.  So far as I am aware he has not made any descriminatatory statements or taken any descriminatatory actions.  The whole point of the rainbow campaign (and the kneeling etc) is to raise awareness and show support for the causes in question.  The fact that there are those of us who postively want to do this is surely what it is all about?  If it then becomes an enforced uniform or gesture, then in my view it loses some of that impact. 

So whilst we can all read between the lines here, the truth is all he has chosen to do is not support something.  I wouldn't be particularly happy if it was a Villa player, but equally I think we should be cautious about demanding that punishments are dished out etc.  People must be allowed to have their own thoughts and opinions so long as they don't overstep a line and encourage hate.  I don't think what Gueye has done here (or not done) crosses that line.  Now if he goes beyond this and starts making homophobic statements etc, then that woud be a different matter entirely.   

That over simplifies it though, if it was choosing not to attend an optional event organised by the club then that would be one thing but by refusing to play what he's actually done is refuse to do his job.

I don't think the law or french football authorities can or should do anything but I'd be surprised if PSG aren't very annoyed with him.

Is anyone else wondering about the inherent contradiction in PSG (with their ownership) supporting such a campaign? Bit like Newcastle's proposed new away kit having the rainbow logo on.

This. With bells on. The hypocrisy is *chefs kiss*.

[Risso]

I want to be careful how I word this, so to start off I will say I am a supporter of the rainbow campaign and Villa and Proud.  I thought the rainbow laces campaign was brilliant and bought a few pairs myself.  I also have a Villa and Proud badge which I was happy to wear to games (before I misplaced it)

With that established, my initial reaction was that it was really poor by Gueye.  But we have to be careful here, all he has chosen to do is to not wear something.  So far as I am aware he has not made any descriminatatory statements or taken any descriminatatory actions.  The whole point of the rainbow campaign (and the kneeling etc) is to raise awareness and show support for the causes in question.  The fact that there are those of us who postively want to do this is surely what it is all about?  If it then becomes an enforced uniform or gesture, then in my view it loses some of that impact. 

So whilst we can all read between the lines here, the truth is all he has chosen to do is not support something.  I wouldn't be particularly happy if it was a Villa player, but equally I think we should be cautious about demanding that punishments are dished out etc.  People must be allowed to have their own thoughts and opinions so long as they don't overstep a line and encourage hate.  I don't think what Gueye has done here (or not done) crosses that line.  Now if he goes beyond this and starts making homophobic statements etc, then that woud be a different matter entirely.   

My thoughts and point exactly - he has done nothing wrong

No one criticised Zaha for standing alone on Saturday when every other player took they knee.

I think he is a twat of a man but i would not have a go at him for not doing it as that is his right and no one else should have a go at him either

I'll happily have a go at him. There's an enormous difference between the Zaha situation and Gueye's. Zaha is a black man who feels that taking the knee is not the correct way to display his feelings about racism. He is though, rather obviously concerned about racism, so his not taking the knee doesn't mean that he is against Black Lives Matter or other anti-racist messages.

Gueye on the other hand, just appears to be a homophobe, and his refusal to wear the shirt isn't a principled stand because he disagrees with the method of showing support as with Zaha, it's because he's a religious nutjob who doesn't like gay people.

[cdbearsfan]

If I refused to turn up to work, I'd be sacked. If my justification was that I did it because I don't like gay people, I'd be laughed out of the Tribunal. Be a laugh if PSG sack the bigoted twat.

[LeeB]

I'm still amazed he plays for them, he was basically the same as Marv but without the endearing smile.