MEXICO CITY, June 19, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Mexico will play two home games in
empty stadiums after they were sanctioned and fined by the FIFA disciplinary
commission for homophobic chants, the Mexican football federation said
Friday.
“We have received a sanction from FIFA for the shouts heard during the
CONCACAF qualifying tournament for the Olympic Games,” federation president
Yon de Luisa told reporters.
The qualifiers were held in March at the Akron and Jalisco stadiums in
Guadalajara in western Mexico.
The sanctions, which include a fine of around $65,000, are linked in
particular to Mexico’s games against the Dominican Republic and the United
States, De Luisa said.
He urged Mexican fans to cease all anti-gay slurs.
“We must stop this now,” he said.
“The effect can be devastating for the Mexican football industry. Let it be
the last sanction that FIFA gives us.”
Mexico has been repeatedly sanctioned over the years for a homophobic slur
shouted by fans at the opposing team’s keeper.
De Luisa said that if the chants continued Mexico was in danger of being
disqualified from the 2022 World Cup qualifiers and losing its role as joint
host of the 2026 World Cup.