Anti-gay chants once again mar a pro soccer match in the U.S. and FIFA drags its feet
Mexican fans yet again yelled an anti-gay chant, this time supporting Monterrey in its match against Borussia Dortmund. Where is FIFA? The post Anti-gay chants once again mar a pro soccer match in the U.S. and FIFA drags its feet appeared first on Outsports.
Mark
In a familiar but no less depressing development, another high-profile match involving a Mexican team has featured the all-too-familiar anti-gay “puto” chant.
The game was Tuesday night’s FIFA Club World Cup last-16 tie between Monterrey from Mexico and the German team Borussia Dortmund, played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Dortmund took a 2-0 lead, and as the game neared halftime in front of a crowd of 31,442, one section “yelled a discriminatory chant that has, unfortunately, become synonymous with Mexican football,” according to The Athletic’s senior soccer writer Felipe Cardenas, who was in attendance.
The targeted player was Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel. In his report, Cardenas added: “The chant grew louder in the second half each time Kobel sent a [ball] downfield.”
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Monterrey scored shortly after halftime, but they went on to lose the game, 2-1.
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At major matches, FIFA uses anti-discrimination match observers who are instructed to report incidents to the authorities as quickly as possible.
When homophobic chanting is confirmed, an established “Three-Step Protocol” is then supposed to be initiated. Cardenas referred to a FIFA representative present as having confirmed that protocol — “Stop, Suspend, Abandon” — was in place.
As was reported last week, FIFA has not been regularly displaying anti-discrimination messaging in stadia during the Club World Cup.
It has not yet been confirmed exactly what happened in the Monterrey-Dortmund match, but it was only in the closing stages — when the chant was heard “on multiple occasions,” according to Cardenas — that a warning message appeared on the big screen.
“Attention please! This is an important announcement,” it read. “The referee has indicated that the match may have to be suspended because of discriminatory behavior amongst supporters.
“Discrimination in football stadiums will not be tolerated. If this continues, the game will be suspended, and may be abandoned.”
Outsports understands the announcement was also made over the P.A. system in Spanish. However, the game was not halted by the referee — Facundo Tello of Argentina — while it was being read out, even though all match officials are trained to follow the protocol.
In its reporting, The Athletic suggested that the protocol may have been adapted. Cardenas wrote that he had been told of the intention to “first address that type of crowd behaviour and then respond to it.
“The objective is to give the referee the ability “to take escalating action when such incidents occur among fans or participants”. Per FIFA, such measures are part of a new FIFA disciplinary code that has been implemented for the Club World Cup.”
At next summer’s FIFA World Cup, co-hosts Mexico — whose national federation have been sanctioned numerous times over the years as a result of the chant — will play their three Group A games in Mexico City and Guadalajara.
It feels inevitable that the chant will be heard during at least one of those games.
Last October, Rafael Villanueva, the director general of Mexican LGBTQ in sports organization DIDESEX, said: “Will homophobia be present inside stadiums in Mexico in 2026? At the moment, it’s difficult to see how it will not be.”
If Mexico win their group, they would play a last-32 tie and a potential last-16 tie at the Estadio Azteca in the capital.
However, were they to qualify for the knockout stages by finishing second or third in the group, they would play all their remaining games in U.S. stadiums.
Last summer, before and during the Copa America in the U.S., games involving Mexico in Colorado, Texas and Arizona were all marred by the same anti-gay chant.
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The post Anti-gay chants once again mar a pro soccer match in the U.S. and FIFA drags its feet appeared first on Outsports.
