Toulouse, a soccer club in France’s main pro league, Ligue 1, left off several players left from the roster Sunday after they opposed the club’s decision to honor International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia by wearing rainbow-themed jerseys.

French media reported that five players — Zakaria Aboukhlal, Farès Chaïbi, Logan Costa, Saïd Hamulic and Moussa Diarra (who plays in Ligue 2) — objected to the team’s stance against homophobia, with Aboukhlal and Hamulic outright refusing to wear the Pride shirts.

“Some players from the professional squad have expressed their disagreement with the association of their image with the rainbow colors representing the LGBT movement,” Toulouse said in a statement.

“While respecting the individual choices of its players, and after numerous exchanges, Toulouse Football Club has chosen to leave the said players out of the match.”

In addition, striker Mostafa Mohamed, a player with Nantes (Toulouse’s opponent), will be fined by his team after his took an unauthorized personal day Sunday, apparently in protest of Ligue’s support for International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, which is Wednesday.

“First of all, Nantes would like to repeat its commitment in the fight against homophobia,” the club said in a statement on its website. “Mostafa Mohamed, a striker for FC Nantes, refused to play in the match against Toulouse for personal reasons. To this end, the Nantes directors decided to punish him financially.”

This is the third year that teams from Ligue 1 and Ligue 2, have worn rainbow jerseys for the initiative. The previous two seasons, Paris Saint Germain’s Idrissa Gueye skipped the games where the Pride jerseys were worn.

Aboukhlal, one of the players who sat Sunday, defended himself on Twitter:

“First and foremost, I want to emphasize that I hold the highest regard for every individual regardless of their personal preferences, gender, religion or background. This is a principle that cannot be emphasized enough,” Aboukhlal said.

“Respect is a value that I hold in great esteem. It extends to others, but it also encompasses respect for my own personal beliefs. Hence, I don’t believe I am the most suitable person to participate in this campaign.”

Aboukhlal obviously does not hold every individual in the “highest regard” if wearing a rainbow jersey once a year to fight homophobia is too much for him. I am glad Toulouse sat these guys and played on.

The incident mirrors what happened in the NHL this season, when several players refused to wear Pride warm-up jerseys.

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