June 21 – FIFA face renewed accusations of not doing enough to tackle discrimination after fining the Mexican Football Federation a token CHF10,000 for homophobic chanting by fans.
The sanction was imposed for making “discriminatory and insulting chants” during the first half of Mexico’s 1-0 win over Germany at the World Cup on Sunday, mainly towards German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.
Mexican fans argue there is no discriminatory intent but the federation has repeatedly asked them to refrain from using the chant, which features the Spanish word for a male prostitute. It is usually sung when the opposition goalkeeper is taking a goal kick.
In a statement FIFA said the decision was taken “after a thorough assessment of the relevant match reports, the FMF’s precedents and the evidence provided, which included videos of the incidents as well as examples of certain sustainable actions taken by the FMF to raise awareness among its supporters.”
“Moreover, the disciplinary committee gave a warning to the FMF, who may face additional sanctions in case of repeated infringements of this type.”
Mexico are next in action against South Korea on Saturday, with striker Javier Hernandez calling on supporters not to use homophobic slurs again.
The Mexican Football Federation (FMF) was sanctioned 12 times for homophobic chanting during the World Cup qualifying campaign and Hernandez posted the following message on Instagram.
“To all Mexican fans in the stadiums, don’t shout ‘Puto’, Let’s not risk another sanction.”
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