FIFA wants Mexico to be an example of how to eradicate discriminatory behavior

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – World governing body FIFA has a plan for Mexico. It hopes that the case of the Mexican Football Federation and its fight against homophobic chants will be an example for the world because of the efforts of Mexican officials to eradicate this behavior among fans.

“I had the opportunity to speak with Gianni Infantino (FIFA president), but the most important thing was the meeting we had earlier with FIFA’s Education and Culture Division. We were able to show all the efforts of CONCACAF and FMF. FIFA was impressed and thought that the case of Mexico could be used as a success story,” said Yon de Luisa, president of the Mexican Football Federation (FMF).

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“In our case, all the parties involved pulled together, and the whole thing became a project of inclusion,” he added.

EXPLAINING HOMOPHOBIC CHANTS

Mexico’s soccer federation has been sanctioned repeatedly by FIFA’s world governing body for a homophobic chant used by its fans during Mexican national team games.

In the latest punishment dished out by FIFA, the team will be forced to play two of its 2022 home World Cup qualifiers without fans.

In practice believed to have started among fans in the early 2000s, Mexican national team fans join in unison to shout a Spanish-language homophobic slur (“puto,” which roughly translates to “gay prostitute”) when an opposing goalkeeper puts the ball into play on a goal kick. The chant is supposedly meant to intimidate the goalie and the opposing team.

The argument for years was that the word has multiple cultural meanings in Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries. It is not intended as a homophobic slur when used by fans in a stadium.

But there’s no getting around that it’s a derogatory term that’s demeaning to the gay community. FIFA and anti-discrimination groups have made that much clear, and the FMF has also recognized it and is taking action.

“It’s not the intention with which you shout or with which you chant. It’s how the other [people] receive it,” FMF president Yon de Luisa told media in 2021. “If anybody feels it’s a discriminatory act, then it is not something that we should include in a conversation. That is no longer a debate. If it is discriminatory, we should avoid it.”

In conjunction with soccer authorities and match organizers, the FMF has been working to eradicate the chant from its matches. The knowledge that failure to do so could result in escalating punishment from FIFA.

The world body has made it clear that it will be cracking down on racism and homophobia in the game around the world — Hungary was fined for a homophobic chant directed at Cristiano Ronaldo in 2017 — and the teams of offending fans will pay the consequences for their supporters’ discriminatory behavior.