French second division game halted over homophobic chanting

Published Aug. 20, 2019 9:37 a.m. ET

NANCY, France (AP) — French sports minister Roxana Maracineanu has congratulated a referee for interrupting a French second division game due to apparent homophobic chants from fans.

Mehdi Mokhtari stopped the game on Friday between Nancy and Le Mans for about a minute after an initial appeal made over the speakers to stop the chants failed to have an effect at Nancy's Marcel Picot Stadium. The game continued shortly afterward.

"It's a first. And a last, I hope," Maracineanu wrote on Twitter.