Here's where Canadians are living abroad: report
A recent report sheds light on Canadians living abroad--estimated at around four million people in 2016—and the public policies that impact them.
A group fighting homophobia in soccer has called on the French league and Paris Saint-Germain to ask player Idrissa Gueye for an explanation after he missed a game last week amid reports that he refused to play because he did not want to wear a rainbow-colored number on the back of his jersey.
The Senegal midfielder traveled with his teammates to Montpellier last weekend for Saturday's French league game in the southern city but did not play, with PSG coach Mauricio Pochettino citing "personal reasons" to justify his absence on the field.
For the second consecutive season, professional clubs in the country had been invited to label their players' shirts with colored numbers using the rainbow flag, the symbol of the LGBTQ movement.
According to a person with direct knowledge of the incident, Gueye did not play because he did not want to wear a rainbow-colored number on the back of his shirt. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the player has not yet commented publicly on the incident.
French radio RMC first reported on the reasons why Gueye skipped the match.
The Rouge Direct group said in a message posted on Twitter that PSG and the league should not exclude the possibility of sanctioning Gueye.
"Homophobia is not an opinion but a crime," the group said.
The case has become a political issue in both Senegal and France.
Senegal's President Macky Sall tweeted his support to Gueye, writing in French: "I support Idrissa Gana Gueye. His religious convictions must be respected."
The country's former prime minister Abdoul Mbaye also threw his support behind Gueye, saying the PSG player "is not homophobic. He does not want his image to be used to promote homosexuality. Leave him alone."
Homosexual relationships are considered a crime in Senegal and can be punished with one to five years in prison.
Valerie Pecresse, the conservative candidate in the French presidential election last month, joined the criticism of Gueye.
"The players of a soccer club, and those of PSG in particular, are identification figures for our young people," she wrote on Twitter. "They have a duty to set an example. A refusal by Idrissa Gana Gueye to join the fight against homophobia could not remain without sanction!"
L'Equipe newspaper reported that Gueye had already missed the corresponding match last season when all teams wore shirts with the rainbow, citing a bout of gastroenteritis.
Homophobic chants, often heard at French league matches, have been tolerated for a long time by many club officials, and soccer authorities have struggled to find the appropriate ways of tackling the issue. The French league, however, launched an action plan three years ago allowing spectators to report sexist, homophobic or racist incidents they witness.
------
AP reporter Babacar Dione in Dakar, Senegal, contributed to this report.
A recent report sheds light on Canadians living abroad--estimated at around four million people in 2016—and the public policies that impact them.
The 2024 federal budget announced on April 16 included plans to introduce “halal mortgages” as a way to increase access to home ownership.
Polish President Andrzej Duda says while no decision has been made around whether Poland will host nuclear weapons as part of an expansion of the NATO alliance’s nuclear sharing program, his country is willing and prepared to do so.
One person was killed in a six-vehicle crash on Highway 400 in Innisfil Friday evening.
Ontario is now home to an invasive and toxic worm species that can grow up to three feet long and can be dangerous to small animals and pets.
Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer said Saturday that the onetime movie mogul has been hospitalized for a battery of tests after his return to New York City following an appeals court ruling nullifying his 2020 rape conviction.
It's one thing to say you like Taylor Swift and her music, but don't blame CNN's AJ Willingham's when she says she just 'doesn't get' the global phenomenon.
A number of LGBQT+2s groups in Central Alberta are pushing back against a request from the Red Deer South UCP constituency to reinstate MLA Jennifer Johnson into the UCP caucus.
Mookie Betts went 3 for 5, including a triple and an RBI single, as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-2 on Saturday.
As if a 4-0 Edmonton Oilers lead in Game 1 of their playoff series with the Los Angeles Kings wasn't good enough, what was announced at Rogers Place during the next TV timeout nearly blew the roof off the downtown arena.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”