France’s sports minister has called for severe sanctions against Mohamed Camara and AS Monaco after the midfielder obscured anti-homophobia messages on his shirt.

During the weekend, all Ligue 1 clubs wore campaign logos promoting anti-homophobia, with the competition’s emblem also featuring rainbow colors as part of an initiative by the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP), which oversees the top two tiers of French football.

In Monaco’s 4-0 victory over Nantes on Sunday, in which the 24-year-old Camara scored a penalty, he placed white tape over the logo on his chest and covered the league’s rainbow badge on his sleeve.

“This behavior is unacceptable,” sports minister Amelie Oudea-Castera stated on French radio station RTL on Monday. “I had the chance to tell the LFP what I thought about it, and I believe such actions must result in the strongest sanctions against the player and the club that allowed it.”

The LFP informed BBC Sport Africa that it is investigating the incident.

Monaco coach Adi Hutter addressed Camara’s actions following the win over Nantes. “First of all, I would like to say that we, as a club, support the operation organized by the league,” he said, referring to the initiative. “As for Camara, it was a personal initiative. There will be an internal discussion with him about this situation. I will not comment further.”

Camara participated in two matches for Mali at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations earlier this year, where the Eagles exited in the quarter-finals.