Vieira to speak to Crystal Palace's Kouyate after Gueye controversy

Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira has said he will speak to Cheikhou Kouyate about Idrissa Gueye who allegedly refused to wear the rainbow colours in support of LGBT rights.

Gueye missed the PSG match on Saturday against Montpellier and reports have claimed he didn't want to wear the rainbow colours for an initiative in aid of International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia on May 17.

"If this is the case, I will speak to Cheikhou [Kouyate] about it. It'll be an in-house conversation,” Vieira said, as per Sky Sports.

However, the manager said there is a need to be clear if Gueye could have actually refused to wear the shirt carrying the rainbow colours in order to avoid creating something negative.

"Do you know what the support was? No, I can't tell you because I don't know. He [Gueye] refused to wear a certain shirt? Did he or Paris Saint-Germain make a statement?” the French tactician asked.

"There is a lot of noise coming out from France and I have been reading the news, but I do not see any kind of statement from Paris Saint-Germain or any kind of statement from the player.

"People are assuming, so before we get into conclusions, we have to be sure about what we are talking about before creating something really negative.”

The former Arsenal player also spoke about Blackpool’s Jake Daniels, who became the UK's first active male professional footballer to come out publicly as gay.

"Obviously what is clear from myself and the football club is we are supporting Jake and we are fighting against any kind of discrimination,” said Vieira.

"I think it takes a lot of courage and personality to come out and express himself and I think the support he's received so far from football and society is really positive. It shows the world is improving. It's good and it can be a positive," he added.

"Football is not different from our society. I believe we're in a better place than 30 years ago and it's difficult to put football inside a box as it's reflective of our society. Education is based in respecting each other. The power of the game allows us to educate the majority of people. We can use football to promote education and there's still a lot to do."

Vieira will lead the Eagles in a match against Everton on May 19 before their Premier League season’s finale against Manchester United.