France’s sports minister mandates FIFA protocol for Marseille-PSG derby

France’s Sports Minister Marina Ferrari has drawn a line in the sand ahead of one of European football’s most volatile fixtures. In a letter to Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) president Vincent Labrune, Ferrari insisted the league enforce FIFA’s three-step protocol to combat homophobic chanting when Olympique de Marseille hosts Paris Saint-Germain on September 20, 2026.

The directive was prompted by reports from Rouge Direct, a French anti-homophobia advocacy group, which flagged recurring discriminatory chants from OM supporters at the Stade Vélodrome.

What the FIFA protocol actually looks like

FIFA’s three-step procedure is the governing body’s graduated response system for discriminatory incidents during matches.

Step one: the referee halts play and a public address announcement warns fans that discriminatory behavior must stop immediately.

Step two: if the behavior continues, the referee suspends the match. Players leave the pitch, and both teams retreat to the dressing rooms.

Step three: if the chanting persists after the match resumes, the referee abandons the game entirely.

France’s Ligue 1 has invoked parts of it before, including during an OL-Rennes match where homophobic chants triggered a temporary stoppage, but full implementation through all three steps remains uncommon.

A pattern of pressure from the government

Ferrari is not the first French government official to lean on the LFP over discriminatory fan behavior. Previous sports ministers, including Amélie Oudéa-Castéra and Gil Avérous, have both publicly called for stricter enforcement of anti-discrimination measures in French football.

Rouge Direct’s reports paint a picture of a problem that hasn’t gone away despite years of hand-wringing. The group has documented persistent homophobic chanting at multiple Ligue 1 venues, with OM’s supporter sections drawing particular scrutiny.

Ferrari’s letter to Labrune places the responsibility squarely on the LFP to act, and creates a paper trail that makes inaction politically untenable. If homophobic chants erupt at the Vélodrome on September 20 and the league fails to follow through, the minister’s office will have documented evidence that it warned the governing body in advance.

Why enforcement remains the sticking point

Referees must make real-time judgments about when chanting crosses the threshold from general hostility into discriminatory territory. Stadium delegates need to coordinate with security, broadcast teams, and local police simultaneously. And the financial consequences of abandoning a match, including lost ticket revenue, potential broadcast refunds, and rescheduling costs, create powerful incentives to look the other way.

The LFP has faced intensifying pressure to do more than just stop matches. Identifying individual offenders in a crowd of tens of thousands is a logistical nightmare, though advances in stadium surveillance technology have made it somewhat more feasible. The league has been pushed to impose sanctions that go beyond fines for clubs and extend to banning orders for specific supporters.