Homophobic banners result in the 2nd French game to be halted in just 3 days

As Paris Saint-Germain beat Metz 2-0 on Friday in what was a tight Ligue 1 match, the game had to be halted as banners popped up in the stadium that were deemed homophobic, the second time that this has happened in French football in just three days.

Referee Frank Schneider stopped the game briefly when the banners were revealed, halting the game for a couple of minutes until they were completely removed.

The previous incident came during a Ligue 1 match between OGC Nice and Olympique Marseille on Wednesday, when two banners were revealed showing homophobic messages, forcing the referee to halt the game temporarily until they were taken away.

The Metz fans were apparently responding to the previous incident, targeting the the French league (LFP) in particular, with a banner saying "I won't be on TV because my words are not very gay."

There were also references to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, with homosexuality being illegal in Qatar, and as PSG have a strong bong with Qatar through their owner, Qatar Sports Investments, the club feel that they have to press on the issue even more.

The LFP has been trying to get rid of homophobia during matches for several weeks now, especially with there being a worrying number of homophobic chants.

Earlier on this month, a Ligue 2 match between Nancy and Le Mans had to be stopped for around a minute after several calls made by the stadium announcer to stop the homophobic chants during the game being ignored.

PSG went on to win the game 2-0 through goals from Di Maria and Choupo-Moting.