Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira will speak to Cheikhou Kouyate about his controversial support for Senegal team-mate Idrissa Gueye, who refused to wear rainbow colours for Paris Saint-Germain this week.
Palace midfielder Kouyate and Watford winger Ismaila Sarr appeared to back midfielder Gueye, a devout Muslim, who did not feature in PSG’s game against Montpellier for ‘personal reasons’. The PSG players wore special shirts to mark the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia.
The Instagram posts by Kouyate and Sarr sparked a backlash, with Palace contacted by fans and groups asking them to look into the matter.
Kouyate uploaded a picture of himself and former Aston Villa and Everton midfielder Gueye, calling him a ‘real man’ and adding ‘we wholeheartedly support you brother’.
Sarr posted a shot with Gueye, plus fist and heart emojis and ‘100 per cent’. When the reasons for Gueye’s stance were put to Vieira, he said: ‘If this is the case I will speak to Cheikhou about it. It’ll be an in-house conversation.’
A Watford statement read: ‘Watford is proud to work collaboratively within our community to further the messages and education around equality, diversity and inclusion.’