A group of PSG fans displayed a giant banner in the Champions League on Wednesday. It read 'Free Palestine'. That banner sparked controversy in France. The French interior minister in particular did not take it well at all.
The Champions League match against Atletico Madrid will be played at Parc des Princes, PSG's home ground. And before the match, the banner covered a large part of the stadium. It wasn't just free palestyle writing. There was a blood-stained Palestinian flag. Alongside were the figures of a man covered in a scarf with only his eyes open and a small child whose body was draped in a Lebanese flag. Across the top was the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
The banner was originally displayed to protest the casualties of Palestinian civilians during Israeli military operations in Gaza. But France's Interior Minister Buhno Hotaiu has no place for such a banner. He wrote on Platform X, 'This banner has no place in this stadium.'
He asked for an explanation from PSG in this incident, 'I want an explanation from PSG. They need to ensure that politics does not destroy the image of the game. Because sport is always a symbol of unity.'
He threatened to ban the banner if this incident happened again. Later expressed his anger on a radio. It says such banners are unacceptable.
As far as is known, the banner was displayed by a group called the Paris Ultras Collective. Whom everyone knows as a hardcore fangroup. Another slogan was written above the banner, 'War on the ground but peace in the world'.
PSG later said in a statement that the club authorities were not aware that such a thing would appear.
